The Marathon Analogy
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: Love is not a sprint; it's a marathon.  But when Penny finished the race, Leonard wasn't at the finish line waiting for her.  If she wants him back, she must prove it, and make him believe once again.
1. He Has A Girlfriend

**So we all want to see jealous Penny trying to win Leonard back, right? Well, here's my attempt to bring that to you! "Jealous" won't be the best adjective to describe Penny in the first chapter, but I'm just attempting to set the stage-we'll get it later!**

**I don't own squat.**

Penny marched into 4A and slammed the door. "Sheldon!"

The theoretical physicist appeared in the hallway. "Hello, Penny."

"I need your help," Penny said, stopping a few feet from him and crossing her arms. "Something…very weird happened today."

_Penny came around the corner with her laundry basket, stopping when she saw Leonard at the mailbox. A smile came over her face. There he was. _

"_Hey, Leonard," she said, coming up to him and resting the laundry basket on the desk. "How's it going?"_

"_Pretty well, actually," Leonard said, looking at her and smiling. "Pretty well."_

"_That's good," Penny said. "Heading upstairs?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, just…just got my mail." He held it up._

"_What did you get?" She asked. "Anything particularly science-y?" When Leonard shook his head and grinned at her, Penny fought down the urge to kiss him right then and there, he was so adorable._

_They reached the fourth floor, and Leonard turned to unlock the apartment door. Penny stood next to him. "So, I've been thinking," she said. "I've made some pretty dumb mistakes in my life. I mean, some of them were downright stupid. But you know what the biggest mistake I ever made was?"_

"I'm sorry," Sheldon interjected. "I've tried my best but I fail to see the point of this story."

Penny sighed. "He didn't let me finish. He gave me this…odd soliloquy."

Sheldon waited for a moment, and then tipped his head. "About…?"

Penny shook her head. "I'm not sure. It didn't really make sense."

"…_and I'm glad we're still friends. But it would get way too complicated if we hooked up again."_

"_Hookup?" Penny was confused. She wasn't going to say anything about a mere hookup._

"_Yeah, it would be a mistake."_

_Penny wondered if he used the word mistake by chance or by choice. Her pondering was so intense that she wasn't able to formulate a sentence that truly expressed her thoughts. All she could come up with was, "So it's a no?"_

"_Yes," he said. "It's a no."_

"Then I'm pretty sure he mumbled 'find your drunken hookup partners somewhere else,' but I'm not totally sure." Penny put her face in her hands.

Sheldon leaned back and crossed a leg over the other, raising a finger to thoughtfully touch his chin. "So…you're distressed?"

Penny gave an exasperated sigh, dropping her hands to hit her legs. "Of course, Sheldon! I've been here for like half a year trying to get over him, and once I realize I can't and I'm ready to go back, he just…just brushes me off like lint!" She shook her head, lowering her voice. "I hadn't expected that at all, I just…I was so sure that he'd want me back."

"Not to bring up a sore subject, but he's said that he was so sure that you'd love him back."

Penny sighed, looking away and folding her arms. "I do. I was going to tell him." Sheldon raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so I wasn't going to tell him," she said, "yet. But I was going to ask him to be a couple again, and…I was going to tell him soon." She looked back at her friend.

"Penny," Sheldon said, "apparently there's something Leonard hasn't told you."

Penny frowned. "Like what?"

Sheldon shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know that I'm supposed to say."

"Oh, come on, please?" Penny was suddenly feeling anxious to know. "It'll be our little secret."

"I already have that deal with Wolowitz. And Stuart."

Penny sighed in frustration. "What is it? Why did he act that way? Dammit, Sheldon, why?"

Sheldon shifted again. "Leonard has a girlfriend."

"_Oh…okay." Penny stepped back, surprised. "Okay, that's fine, yeah, no big deal. I was just…saying."_

"_Thank you, though." Leonard said awkwardly._

"_Yeah." Penny said, nodding and playing with her hands. "Well, I'd better get back to my…you know…" she gave an awkward laugh, "apartment."_

"_Yeah, me too."_

"_See you at dinner?"_

"_Oh," Leonard said, looking uncomfortable, "I can't make it tonight. I'm…working."_

"Working, my ass!" Penny said, her jaw dropping again.

Sheldon looked confused. "What?"

"He said he was working tonight. He's going to be with her!" Penny's eyes flashed angrily. "What's her name? Why didn't Leonard tell her about me?"

"He hasn't brought her here or introduced her to any of us," Sheldon said. "Except Wolowitz. He met her the day Leonard did. That's my verification that she actually exists. Leonard told me a little about her, of course..."

Penny sank down on the arm of the couch. "I can't believe it. Leonard has a girlfriend…" She shook her head in shock. She'd never expected this. She'd always thought that she and Leonard would get back together eventually, once she was ready. She'd expected the earlier conversation to go differently, where she'd tell him that she wanted to be with him again and they'd kiss in the hallway under the dim light. Now, she found herself not only rejected but learning that there was another person in Leonard's life. A woman. A woman who, according to Sheldon's rambling descriptions of her 'faults' sounded absolutely perfect.

**Hope the beginning wasn't too rough. I'll try and edit this weekend if I have a lot of grammar mistakes-it's pretty late now and I fear I'm not thinking correctly. But anyway, let me know what you think of the idea, and if you have any suggestions on what Penny could do to win him back, or qualities you think the new girl should have, hit me with a PM, because while I have some ideas of my own, I love hearing other ones!**


	2. They're Out There Now

**Here's chapter two! We don't meet the girlfriend yet, as I'm still plot-mapping out how her relationship with Leonard is going to work. And I can't guarantee update dates for any of my incompletes-most of them likely won't be updated for another month or so-I have work, school, and a fall sport, so I'm pretty busy!**

Penny sat on her couch, painting her nails with her music as loud as her neighbors would allow. Halfway through her right foot, she realized that she'd been alternating red and black. Why the hell was she doing that? Penny bit her lip as she studied the nails. In a weird way, she thought, it actually looked kind of good.

Her attention was drawn away from her feet to sounds coming from the hallway. She jumped up and went to the door, trying to step lightly. Maybe it was Leonard and the girlfriend, who she all of a sudden felt like she had to see. She cracked open the door, saw who it was, then opened it the rest of the way. "Hey guys."

"Hi, Penny," Howard said. Raj smiled. "Guess what we have?"

"Not another robot arm, I hope," Penny said. "Or even worse, the same one. I don't want it touching my food now."

Howard shook his head and gave her a glare. "Unfortunately, no, it's not a robot arm. Just pizza."

"That works for me," she said. "I'll be over in a second."

She found flip flops and turned off the music, thinking about dinner. She hadn't thought she was hungry, but the aroma of pizza had invaded her nostrils and suddenly she was craving some. As she locked her apartment door, she wondered what it would be like, eating with the guys while she knew Leonard was with another woman. Penny supposed that since he'd be with the woman either way, the guys would be a good distraction.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully, coming through the door. "I'm starving."

"Don't sit in my spot," Sheldon yelled from the bathroom.

"No worries!" Penny eased onto the white chair. Leonard had proclaimed that chair Penny's seat if he wasn't there. She called it her throne.

Raj leaned over and whispered something to Howard, who glanced at Penny and grinned. "What?" she asked.

"He was wondering if you've joined the dark side."

Penny was confused until Raj pointed at her feet. Black and red. "Oh, yeah, that's me. Just shaking it up for a change." _Say something about the girlfriend, damn you Howard, I know you've met her!_

Sheldon entered the room and sat in his spot, and Howard opened the box of pizza. Penny took only one piece. Suddenly she felt a little bit sick to her stomach. _Say something, Howard!_

"So…" Howard put his hands on his knees and looked at Penny. "Has Sheldon told you the news?"

"About Leonard having a girlfriend?" Penny blurted out. _Did I say that too fast? _ She put down her piece of pizza. "Yeah." She looked down at the pizza, running her finger through a glob of sauce. "So…what's she like?"

"Ah, we're curious, interesting," Howard said, cocking his head thoughtfully. "I've met her, she's a nice girl."

"Oh yeah?" Penny asked, trying to sound fairly disinterested. Based on Raj's expression, she figured that it wasn't working. "Good for him." She picked up her pizza and took another bite. "What do you know about her?"

Howard shrugged. "She's about his height, brunette…two eyes, two breasts…"

"Oh wow, so it's a woman," Penny said sarcastically. "Do you know what she does?"

"I…I think she…teaches something…or was that the chick I talked to at the planetarium?" He looked at Raj, who shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Penny nodded. "Why doesn't he want us to meet her?"

"I share in your confusion," Sheldon said. "We are his best friends; she's bound to meet us sooner or later. However, once Leonard informed me that this group apparently is quite skilled at helping him end relationships."

"True dat," Howard said, holding a hand up. Raj slapped it.

"Wait," Penny said. "You guys have actually tried to break up Leonard and girls he'd dated?"

"Not intentionally," Howard said. "He usually screws it up on his own sooner or later, but Sheldon was responsible for Joyce Kim…"

"…who was a foreign spy. I did our country a favor," Sheldon interjected.

Howard glared at him. "Whatever! And Sheldon's argument with Leslie on string theory versus loop theory ended that relationship."

"So, you're saying that it's Sheldon that breaks up Leonard and his girlfriends," Penny said, gesturing toward the Homo Novus with her pizza.

Sheldon shrugged. "I do my best to keep him single, but the man keeps relapsing." He took a bite of pizza and shrugged.

Penny nodded, biting the corner of her lip and gazing off into the distance. "Uh-huh."

Howard was watching her. "So…you're…okay with this?"

Penny supposed she should have been anticipating the question. "Me? Pssssh," she waved her hand casually in Howard's direction. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, we're good." She gave a little laugh. "He can do _whatever_ he wants." She glanced at her wrist, remembered that she wasn't wearing a watch, and then pulled out her phone. "Oh, wow, it's late, I gotta…you know, go and do stuff." She jumped up, gathering the remainder of her pizza in a napkin. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, Penny," Howard said.

"Good-bye," Sheldon called.

Raj waved.

Penny returned to her apartment, shut the door, and went to sit on the couch. "Wow," she said to herself, pulling her knees up to her chest. Somehow having Howard describe the new girl, however briefly, made her seem more real, someone who was out there, out there with Leonard, right now.

Penny frowned. Why was this bothering her so much? Because she'd never, ever been rejected before when wanting to start a relationship? Because she didn't expect that Leonard would be the one to move on? Or because she'd always thought that when she was ready, he'd open his arms and she could stay in them for the rest of her life?

That last one made the most sense. Penny'd spent years dating muscle-bound men and buff scientists and comic book store owners, seeing what was out there, knowing that whenever she wanted Leonard he would be there, whether it be a kiss or a hug or a comforting talk. And now when she wanted more than that again, he'd actually told her no.

Penny comforted herself by reasoning that the relationship couldn't be that serious. After all, Leonard hadn't even had her over for dinner yet.

**Leonard's gonna be in the next chapter, hopefully! Review and tell me what you thought of this one!**


	3. Laundry Room Talk

**Yes, I have homework. But I've gotten a lot done, so I feel justified in updating two fics in one day! Here's chapter three! I promise that it does have a purpose-or it will once the fic is finished! :D**

**I still own nothing-I will own Stacy when she shows up, though!**

Penny bent to remove her clothing from the dryer, lazily sweeping everything into the laundry basket. It had been a while since she'd done her laundry, she realized; her basket was heaping and half of the clothes were newly bought.

"Hey."

She straightened and turned. Leonard had entered the laundry room carrying his own laundry basket. "Hey," she said cheerfully. As he set the basket down on the table and dug in his pocket for quarters, Penny strained her neck to see his clothes. No new shirt. _Darn you, I need a reason to bring it up! _"So, how's it going?"

"Pretty good," he said, smiling. "you?"

"All right," she said, nodding and bringing her clothes over to fold. "Haven't gotten out much lately."

"Working a lot?"

"Not too bad. You're working a lot, aren't you?"

He shrugged, pushing the quarters into the slots and starting the washing machine. "No, not really."

Penny paused while folding her shirt. He'd given her an opportunity! She dropped her jaw and looked at him. "Leonard Hofstadter, you have a girlfriend!"

"What? What makes you…how did you know?"

She tried not to grin at how adorable he looked while confused. "Well," she said, "whenever you go out to meet girls you say that you're at work, or going to the office. I simply analyzed the data at hand." Penny couldn't stop her grin this time; her last sentence sounded impressive.

Leonard seemed to think so, as he gave her a small smile. "Very good." He turned back to the washing machine. "How long has it been making that noise?"

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask you, I lost a necklace in there and I need help getting it back."

Leonard rolled his eyes at her. "Nice."

"Yeah." Penny looked down, and then back at him. "So…who is she? What does she do?" _Is she smart? Is she pretty? Is this serious?_

Leonard shrugged, smiling. "Her name's Stacy. She's twenty eight, teaches middle school."

"Nice," Penny said. "How long have you been seeing her?"

"Um…" he thought. "We met when she came to the rescue of her sister, who Howard was hitting on. That was…about…two weeks ago? Yeah, two weeks."

Penny nodded. "So, back last weekend when I asked if anyone wanted to go get hamburgers at the new place…"

"…yeah, sorry about that," he said. "She wanted me to go fishing."

Penny stopped folding and looked at him incredulously. "Fishing." She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It wasn't on a boat, it was at a little fishing pond."

Penny furrowed her brows. "And that's supposed to make it cooler?"

They looked at each other for a few seconds. "Okay, point," Leonard acknowledged. He reached into her basket and took out a shirt to fold. "It was catch and release."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Penny wondered if this was his new go-to conversation starter. "Catch and release. Sounds like Howard's method of picking up women." She looked sideways at Leonard and they smirked. "So when do we get to meet her?"

"She's a pretty busy woman," he said, "and to be honest…" he glanced sideways at Penny. "I don't really want her hanging around Sheldon."

"Hey, Leonard, if she's going to be a part of your life, she's going to have to accept that Sheldon's in it."

He nodded. "True." He folded a few more shirts and set them on the stack. "It's not like I haven't told her about Sheldon-she knows about everyone-but with the little time she has off there hasn't been a chance for her to come over here."

_What did you tell her about me, Leonard? _"If she knows about everyone, then maybe it's not previous engagements that are preventing her from coming over here," Penny said, half joking.

Leonard knew what she meant, and he laughed. "I'm surprised that she agreed to go out with me even after her first impression included Howard."

"Yeah, you must have been looking _mighty fine_!" Penny teased, swatting him with the pair of shorts in her hand. He turned slightly pink. "So, what did you tell her about me?"

The instant the words were out of Penny's mouth she felt her face get hot with embarrassment. She tried to cover it by raising an eyebrow and cocking her head, trying to look casual and failing. "Hmmmmmm?"

Leonard reached over and took the shorts from Penny, setting them on the pile. "I said that you were our neighbor and that we used to go out and that you are only person that could consistently beat Sheldon at Halo."

_Why would he tell Stacy that we used to date when he wouldn't tell Stephanie? _Penny thought that was a little odd, but she brushed it off. The last thing she wanted to do was act jealous of Stacy. No way was she jealous of Stacy. "Does she play Halo?"

"She does. She's pretty good, actually."

"Maybe I could play her when she comes over," Penny suggested.

Leonard looked at her, and a pleased smile came over his face. "That sounds great," he said. "We'd better make sure she comes over on a Wednesday, then. Cow forbid her first meeting with Sheldon comes on a day where we play Halo night on Not Halo Night."

Penny was about to agree, then hesitated. "Remember, if she's going to be a part of your life, she'll have to get used to bad Sheldon, too."

"Not as a first impression," Leonard said, shaking his head. "But maybe on the third or fourth time she's over, you can sit in Sheldon's spot and she'll get a taste of what he's like."

"Sounds like a plan," Penny said. _But on the first time, I'm going to destroy that girl at Halo!_

"Good luck with all of that, then," she said gathering up her laundry and stacking the piles neatly in her basket. She hesitated a little before leaving. Normally-always when they were dating and sometimes as friends-she'd give him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the laundry room. She'd been afraid to in the aftermath of their breakup because she didn't want to lead him on. But he had a girlfriend, now. He wouldn't think that, as disappointing as that was. So she leaned over, put her arm quickly around his neck, and kissed his cheek. "See ya!"

**Remember, I love reviews, so if you'd like to leave one, I'd appreciate it!**


	4. I'm Moving On

**We meet Stacy in this chapter-and I swear, she looks and acts nothing like me. This is NOT a self-insert! Just thought I'd say that-I'm paranoid people will think that because she's my first real OC. **

**I own Stacy…that's about it.**

_Knock knock knock_. "Sheldon?"

The door flew open. "You promised you wouldn't do that anymore," he said, his face twitching ever so slightly.

"Oh, did I?" Penny frowned, thinking. "Nope, don't remember."

Sheldon regarded her curiously. "Sarcasm?"

"Nope! Let me in!" Penny kept glancing toward the stairs. She for sure didn't want to be in the hallway when Leonard and Stacy got there. She wanted to look like part of the group. _I totally am! _She thought, shifting her weight. She wasn't nervous. Not at all.

Sheldon stepped aside and allowed her to pass. Howard and Raj were sitting on the couch, Raj messing with his phone and Howard staring at his hands. Both looked up when Penny entered. "Homette," Howard acknowledged.

"Howard," she said, just as solemnly.

Sheldon darted past her. "Don't sit in my spot!" he warned.

Penny rolled her eyes at him, reaching the white chair and sinking down in it. "Where are Leonard and Stacy going to sit?" Howard asked, looking at Penny with a raised eyebrow.

Penny didn't understand why he was looking at her. "Um…chairs?"Howard and Raj glanced at each other. "What?" Penny asked, confused. They didn't say anything. "What?"

"I believe they were under the assumption that you, being Leonard's ex girlfriend, would surrender your seat for one of them. That is by definition Leonard's chair."

_He always lets me sit here…oh._ Suddenly Penny felt out of place, as if she wasn't a part of the group-as if her relationship with Leonard had defined her as "Leonard's girlfriend," now "Leonard's ex-girlfriend." As if she was expected to stay out of the way of Leonard and Stacy now that they were dating. _That's ridiculous!_ "Oh. Sure. Sorry, I'll move. Of course." Feeling awkward, Penny got up and went to the kitchen to retrieve two chairs. She wondered if she was overreacting to the guys' comments because she was so nervous. Now that she was actually going to meet Stacy, her mind was racing. _Is she pretty? Maybe she's not pretty. Maybe she's way shorter than him. Or way taller than him. Not that height matters-I always said I needed a guy way taller than me._

She jumped when the door opened, her sweaty palms losing their grip on the chairs. "We're home!" Leonard announced, dropping the key in the bowl. "This is Stacy," he said in Sheldon and Raj's direction, motioning to the woman behind him. "Stacy, Raj and Sheldon, and you've already met Howard."

"Ma'am," Howard acknowledged.

Penny leaned to the side, trying to see who was behind him. He was blocking her view. _So she's not way taller than him._

Leonard looked over at her. "Hey, Penny," he said cheerfully.

"Hey." _Move over, sweetie! I want to see…_

Leonard walked toward her. "I'll help with those."

"Thanks." Penny didn't move as he came closer. Now she finally had a view of his girlfriend. _Damn, she's pretty!_

Stacy was about her and Leonard's height, with dark hair just past her shoulders and what Penny suspected were really pretty brown eyes. When she glanced around the room and smiled, her teeth were white. _Too white. Who wants teeth like that, seriously? _"Hi, everyone," she said, giving a little wave.

"Oh, Stacy," Leonard said in a rush, a bit of color coming to his face. "I almost forgot. This is Penny. Penny, Stacy."

"Hi," Stacy said cheerfully, coming over to where Penny and Leonard stood with the chairs. "So nice to finally meet you!"

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," Penny said, enunciating every syllable and sounding as fake as the smile she pasted on. She took the hand that Stacy offered and shook it. "I like your top."

Stacy looked down at the black and gold shirt. "Thanks. Your shoes are cute."

"Thank you," Penny said. She'd gotten them the first time she and Leonard went to Long Beach. He'd always told her that they made her man feet look adorable. "I got you a chair."

"Oh, that's so nice," Stacy said, sounding genuine. Penny felt her heart sink, slightly. She'd hoped that Leonard's girlfriend would be ugly or have a short temper. Apparently you didn't always get what you were hoping for.

It didn't take long for Penny to discover that Stacy wasn't someone who would pretend to like you if her hatred of you ran deeply enough. Within fifteen minutes, Howard had been ordered to remain silent for the rest of the evening. That had amused Penny greatly.

"So, Penny," Stacy said, putting down her chopsticks. "Leonard said that you're a waitress and aspiring actress?"

Penny nodded. "Yeah, I'm waiting for the right part, though." To be honest, Penny'd put acting on hold. She wasn't sure if it was truly what she wanted to do. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She knew that Sheldon was meant for theoretical physics and Leonard for experimental physics and Bernadette for microbiology…but what was she meant for? After a moment, Penny realized that everyone was looking at her. "Right now I just waitress. Do you play Halo? Or Wii?"

Stacy looked surprised. "Yeah, why?"

"Oh, just wondering. It's one of my hobbies. One of my many hobbies. You know, aside from watching _Star Wars_ and _Babylon 5 _and looking at subatomic particles with an electron microscope. Quantum mechanics. You know." Penny gave a casual shrug. "What do you do?"

"Aside from teaching?" Stacy put her food down. "Well, I like to fish, and play video games, and do karaoke."

Penny pretended to choke on her food. "Oh my God!" she shrieked, trying to look excited. "I love karaoke!"

"You do?"

Penny looked at Leonard, whose eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "Of course I do," she said, smiling sweetly.

Stacy stood up. "Leonard, where's the bathroom?"

"Right down the hall," he said, smiling at her and gesturing toward the bathroom with his head. She smiled and kissed his forehead. "Thanks." Stepping around her chair, Stacy headed toward the hallway.

"She seems nice," Penny said, smiling around the group.

Howard and Raj were looking at her with the same odd expression. Sheldon, still settled in his spot, was staring at her, looking extremely perplexed. "What?" Penny felt as if she'd asked that way too much this evening. "Seriously. What?"

Leonard stood up. "Penny, can I talk to you for a second?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"Um…not here." He tilted his head toward the hallway. "There?"

"Sure." Penny got up and followed him outside. "What's up?"

"Okay." Leonard looked down and scratched his head. "I don't know how to really…start this conversation." He finally looked up at her. "What is going on?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"With you!" Leonard was shaking his head. "With your _Babylon 5_ talk and studying the properties of atoms. And karaoke? You haven't done that since we were almost booed out of the club you dragged me to."

Penny gave a deep sigh. "What is it about her? Is it her eyes? Her figure? Her annoyingly sweet personality?"

She noticed that Leonard was twitching, which she knew that _he_ only did when he was very, very angry. "Look," he said in a firm voice. "I don't know what you think you're doing, and I don't know why you suddenly want to be with me again. But you know what? I have a guess. You heard I had a girlfriend, and that's just not okay with you. You want me to always be the guy next door that you can kiss when you feel like it, sleep with whenever your day doesn't go great, and whatever the hell else."

"You don't think it should be hard to see you with someone else?" Penny asked him, feeling herself start to shake. She wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. "To see you march in with someone else who kisses you as she gets up and reaches over to touch your arm while you talk?"

Leonard just looked disgusted. "Can I just remind you of something?" He asked. "Can I remind you that you broke up with me? You pushed past me and ran out of the bowling alley, and then a month later you show up drunk at my door acting like you wanted to be with me again, and I was so in love with you that I was ready to forgive everything you'd done and take you back. Then you give me some crap about making mistakes and how I just happened to be your latest bad decision."

"I didn't say that you were a bad decision!"

"Okay, fine, I was paraphrasing, but it's close!"

Penny was almost afraid of him now; his face was red and he was shaking with anger. She wanted to open her mouth and defend herself, but no words came out.

"I've been doing just fine," he said slowly, carefully. "I wasn't the one that ended it, okay? I'm moving on."

Penny felt wounded. She looked down at her hands, blinking fast to stop the tears from forming in the corners of her eyes. She refused to cry. So someone had yelled at her. Big deal.

"Hey." Leonard touched her arm. "Look, I don't want to be yelling at you, okay? You just have to understand that I have a girlfriend now. And while you may not think so now, you just think that you want to be with me because I'm spoken for. It's like the law of supply and demand."

"Don't flatter yourself," she said, bitterly and because she knew nothing else to say, aside from maybe _I was ready to go back to you before I knew about Stacy. I've fixed what was wrong with me. I'm the person that you thought I was until I said "thank you."_

But she couldn't say that. Because she knew that today, it wouldn't do any good.

Leonard asked her if she was going back inside, and she seriously thought about just going home. But she didn't want to come across as the jealous ex, because she totally wasn't. So she smiled and said yes, and followed him back into the apartment. She managed to stay another half an hour before heading home. She couldn't stand the way Stacy had her hand on Leonard's arm.

**Hope that didn't totally suck. Reviews would be welcome-especially thought out reviews.**


	5. The Mailman Did It Again

**Okay, so now we're getting into a little bit of what Penny's going to do to get Leonard back…does this one sound a little familiar? It won't be an exact copy of the show, but there will be a few things-of course-this is a Big Bang Theory fic! And after this chapter I'm planning on being done with scenes of Penny sitting in her apartment alone moping. If she's going to mope, she'll mope among friends. :D**

**I still only own Stacy.**

The days following the shouting match were very uncomfortable for Penny. She felt as though Leonard was avoiding her, but she couldn't deny that she was doing the same thing. She didn't know what she would say to him if they did run into each other.

Another reason was she simply didn't know what she'd do if she saw him. Now, instead of her cheeks growing warm and a smile coming upon her face, when she thought of him she wanted to cry. She'd been so stupid to ask why he was dating Stacy, and now that she knew how badly she'd hurt him-from his own mouth-she felt ashamed whenever she laid eyes on him. Not to mention his comments about her not changing stung badly. She wasn't the girl who just wanted a fling, one good night and then one good-bye. She wasn't like Dr. Slutbunny or Leslie or Joyce. So why did he say those things?

Penny slumped down on the couch with her magazine. She was reading an interview with some actress that she'd honestly never heard of, and she really didn't care about what the woman's favorite desert was.

"_So, Penny, how does it feel to know that you single handedly screwed up your romantic and platonic relationship with the person in this world who means the most to you?"_

Penny jumped before she realized that no one had actually posed the question; it was a thought. She groaned in frustration and stood up. "What am I going to do, Schrödinger?" She asked the little animal curled up in the green chair. He opened his eyes and stared at her for a few moments, and then closed them again. Penny reached over and picked him up, and he pushed his nose against her chin, purring. "Don't you make that noise," she said in a mock stern voice. "I only took you because I needed the twenty dollars."

She sat back down on the couch and settled the cat in her lap. "I want to be with Leonard, you know?" she asked. "But I'd take being his friend over this awful silence." Schrödinger rolled over on his back, and Penny rubbed his stomach. "I'm going to start making you answer me if you want your belly scratched." She smiled down at the cat. She'd ordered him a toy mouse that moved around on the floor, and she couldn't wait for it to come in so she could watch him play with it. "You know what I'm going to do?" she asked Schrödinger, "I'm going to check my mail to see if your toy's here. Okay?"

Schrödinger got up and jumped off of her lap as if he understood. "Aw, _good_ kitty!" Penny said, smiling. She stepped over him and headed out the door and downstairs. Luckily the mail had already come, but the toy wasn't there. "Dammit," Penny said. She was sick of shipping companies promising a quick delivery date and failing to come through. All she had were bills.

As she turned to leave, Penny paused, holding her letters in both hands as she stood less than a yard from the mailboxes. She pivoted slowly until she faced them again, her eyes locked on the box next to hers. Why not? She knew that despite Sheldon insisting on using the key (it gave the impression that the key was necessary to opening the mailbox) 4A's mailbox didn't lock properly. Reaching in her pocket for her MasterCard, Penny had the box open in seconds. She pulled out three letters, two of which were addressed to Leonard. Perfect. She returned the third letter to the mailbox, then realized that that would appear suspicious. She retrieved it, shut the box, picked up her own mail, and headed back upstairs.

* * *

Leonard headed up the stairs, smiling. An experiment at work had finally, after two weeks of failing, worked and yielding somewhat positive results. He and Stacy had made their relationship Facebook official, and now they were heading to his apartment for Wii bowling.

"How good are the others at this?" Stacy asked him, shifting the bag of food to her other arm.

"Sheldon's really, really good at actual bowling," Leonard said, "but Wii bowling…his best is a sixty eight. And he beats Howard and Raj by a lot."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm usually…close to Sheldon."

"And by close you mean you're usually second?" she asked, grinning.

He pretended to think. "Eh, well, I wouldn't say…" he grinned back at her. "Usually. Sometimes Raj beats me." They had reached the fourth floor, and Leonard put down his bag of food to fish for the keys.

"Leonard!"

He looked over his shoulder to see Penny standing in the threshold of 4B. He hadn't seen her in days, since the day after he'd shouted at her when they passed awkwardly on the stairs. He had a feeling that she was avoiding him, but it wasn't like he wasn't doing the same thing. What was he supposed to say? That he was sorry that he had a girlfriend? He wasn't-not at all-but Penny sure seemed to think that he should be, which he didn't understand. It wasn't like he dumped her.

But that was days ago, and Leonard didn't like being mad at her. As much as she'd hurt him-as many nights that he'd lain awake crying and wishing he were dead or had memory loss-she was still Penny. He just wasn't sure how to react around her. He didn't want her to think he was flirting with her, or missing her, or wanting to get back together with her. Her desire to be with him again was simply because he was dating someone else and wasn't an across the hall convenience, but he was sure that that would die down soon enough, and they could go back to being friends. And he wanted to be her friend. It just wasn't smart for him to be anything more-he'd learned how painful that could be. Leonard figured the best reaction was the natural one-the one that always came instinctively when he saw Penny. He smiled. "Hey," he said. "What's going on?"

"Hi, Penny," Stacy said, smiling.

"Hi," Penny said, giving Stacy a polite glance. "Leonard, I really don't mean to bother you. I see you're busy. About to have some…dinner…um, but I got your mail today. Craziest thing, they just put it right in there with mine, and I couldn't get your mailbox open, so…"

He smiled, reaching out to take the envelopes from her. "Thank you. Oh, and I'm not surprised that Sheldon hasn't told you-he's paranoid-but our mailbox doesn't really lock. You could pop it open in ten seconds with a credit card."

"Oh yeah?" Penny nodded. "I'll remember that if it happens again. So…what are you two up to tonight?"

"It's Wii bowling night," Stacy said.

"We're doing two teams," Leonard said. "They're actually uneven right now…"

He glanced at Stacy, who nodded and looked at Penny. "You want to come?"

"Really?" Penny looked surprised.

"Sure," Leonard said. "That way we'd have six. You know, me, Stacy, Sheldon, Raj, Howard, you…"

"Oh, is that who's playing?" Penny and Stacy said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise. "Okay, you're _so_ on our team," Stacy said, grabbing Penny by the arm. "We'll kill the others!"

* * *

Penny smiled politely again as she entered the apartment on Stacy and Leonard's heels. The mail trick couldn't be used again, unfortunately, but at least this time it had accomplished what she wanted: she was talking to Leonard again and heading over to his apartment for a game. She felt better; she was making progress.

And she was _so_ going to get a higher score than Stacy.

**Hope you liked it! If you did, send me a nice review!**


	6. Sheldor and Others

**It's 11:15, it's been a long day, just wrote this in about a half an hour. So sorry if it sucks. And sorry for typos, I did spell and grammar check but I think my computer has a personality so it may have missed a few. :P**

**I still only own Stacy.**

Penny sat on the middle section of the couch, her legs tucked under her. Damn Stacy and her Wii bowling skills. Damn seventy-six that was beating everyone!

Beside her, Raj was pouting. He was only at a thirty two and couldn't even run commentary due to the two females in the room. "Cheer up, Raj," she said, patting his arm. "No one is doing that well. Except for _her_, anyway." She gestured to Stacy, who was holding the controls.

Raj raised his shoulders and held his hands palms up, confused. He pointed at Stacy, then Penny, then at the scoring section on the screen. "Yeah yeah, I know she's on my team," Penny grumbled.

_Crash!_

"Eight!" Sheldon said with fake enthusiasm, frowning as Team Awesome's score was adjusted.

"Come on, buddy," Howard said as Sheldon stepped up. "Be the ball."

Sheldon whirled around. "I cannot be the ball when I have no physical contact with said ball. At the most, I can be the Wii controllers."

"Go, Wii controllers," Howard said, miming the waving of a flag.

Sheldon smiled. "Thank you; that'll be very helpful." He turned back and sent off the bowling ball. Strike.

"Let's go, Penny!" Stacy said enthusiastically, clapping her hands. Penny managed a polite smile, facing the screen. _Angle, angle_, she thought, winding up. She thrust the control forward and watched the ball. It shot toward the pins, angled slightly to the right, then smashed into them. All of them fell. Strike.

"Yes!" Penny shouted, raising her arms up and twirling. Suddenly she was being hugged. _Stacy._ Penny forced herself to quickly return the embrace before turning and playfully sticking her tongue out at Sheldon, Howard, and Raj. "Take that, Team Sheldor and Others."

"And with that," Sheldon said resignedly. "We conclude Wii bowling night. The final score is Team Debatably Awesome by eighteen points."

"Yes!" Leonard said, raising both his hands. Stacy and Penny each gave him a high five. Penny was laughing. Stacy was a really nice girl; it hadn't been as terrible hanging out with her as Penny had envisioned.

"We did it!" Stacy said, stepping toward Leonard and putting her hands on his neck. She gave him a solid kiss that lasted, in Penny's opinion, about fourteen billion years. Suddenly, Penny's smile froze over and felt forced. She pushed her tongue into her cheek and turned around, taking her purse from the table.

"I'm going to go," she said, turning back around. Leonard and Stacy had broken apart, and Stacy was casually adjusting an earring. "It's been fun."

"So soon?" Stacy asked. "It's only ten!"

"Yeah, well, I have this job, and…okay, I'll see everyone tomorrow!" Penny gave a little wave. "Good-night!"

She marched across the hall and let her apartment door slam, just a little bit. She knew that Leonard and Stacy were a couple. She knew that they kissed. She just didn't know why they had to do that in front of her. Giving a loud sigh of frustration, Penny dropped her purse on her coffee table and headed to the kitchen, reaching up to pull the ponytail from her hair.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" She called, reaching for a bottle of wine. "Man, I hope that's a hot guy," she mumbled to herself.

"Hey," came a voice.

Penny turned. Well, it was a guy, anyway. "Hi, Howard."

"Hey, look…" He pushed his hands together awkwardly. "Leonard's finding it a bit…odd, that you just…up and left like that."

"I'm not on any set schedule," Penny snapped. "I can leave whenever the hell I want!" Howard stepped back and put up his hands. "Sorry," she said.

"So...why _did_ you leave?" He asked. "I'm just curious. Was it Stacy lip locking with your man?"

Penny was about to snap at him and say that Leonard wasn't her man; she was just tired, but she just shook her head. "No."

"I guessed when you had that intense look on your face that you were trying to beat her," Howard said. "I've tried the technique-and 'My Wii bowling skills are better than his,' don't work when trying to get someone's girlfriend to take you over him."

"Ah. Good to hear." Penny took a gulp of the alcohol.

"If it makes you feel better," Howard said, still standing awkwardly by the door, "you beat her."

"Well, she can stick those skills up her…wait, I did?"

Howard nodded. "You had the highest score."

Penny's face broke out into a grin. "Take _that_, Stacy!" She said to herself, punching the air.

"You're jealous!" Howard said, pointing at her. "I knew it!"

"I am not jealous," Penny protested. Howard cocked his head. "Maybe," she admitted.

Howard shook his head, looking amused. "Penny chasing Leonard," he said, laughing slightly. "Never thought we'd see that."

"You can't tell him, Howard!" Penny said. "He thinks I just want to break him and Stacy up because I want him to be available the next time I get drunk."

Howard blinked in surprise. "Wait, what's your real motive?"

Penny was about to answer, then just shook her head. "Never mind." She held out the bottle of alcohol. "Want any?"

He shook his head. "No, I have to drive Howard home."

"Awww," Penny said, grinning. "We're all responsible now that we have a girlfriend, are we?" Howard shrugged and nodded. "So has Leonard said anything about me recently? He was acting okay tonight, but is he still mad? Like, has he told you anything in confidance?"

Howard raised an eyebrow. "You know he can't tell us secrets. We share them." He laughed and shook his head. "No…he's been talking about Stacy, mostly. They started doing it last weekend. I put that on twitter."

"Lovely." Penny gave a deep sigh and sank down on the couch.

"Look, here's the thing," Howard said, moving across the room to sit next to her. "We like Stacy. She's tolerable. But all of us…to be honest…think that you guys…" He trailed off. "…and Sheldon's pointed out that the sooner Stacy is gone, the sooner you can get back with Leonard."

"Wait. Why do you guys care?"

Howard took a deep breath, as if unsure of how to explain. "Sheldon came to be used to you two as a couple. He accepted it, and he found it convenient for him. As he is confident that Leonard and Stacy's relationship will not last, he refuses to put out the effort that he did for you and Leonard's relationship."

"I'm going to stop you right there," Penny said. "He put out effort?"

Howard paused. "Debatable. Anyway, we figured that if we eliminate the newest variable and maximize the necessary conditions for the reunion of you and Leonard, our Sheldonverse will be much more pleasant."

Penny raised an eyebrow. So they'd help her, but only because it was convenient for them. How typical…Penny sat up straighter. Who cared why? "You'll help me?"

"Very subtly," Howard said. "We'll have to do it ingeniously or he'll catch on. Like _Inception._"

"We're going into the sublevels of his subconscious?"

Howard looked impatient. "No. We're going to hint hint wink wink nudge nudge."

Penny thought about it for about a second. "Is that going to even work? They had that ridiculously long kiss…"

Howard frowned. "That lasted less than a second."

"Oh." Penny smiled. This could really work. "Okay. I appreciate the help!"

Howard nodded. "We'll start tomorrow"

**Hope you liked it! If you want to, ****review****!**


	7. Restaurant Talk

**Okay…next chapter. I'm sorry if this feels choppy or anything, my stomach hurts so freaking bad right now and I honestly have no idea why.**

**I still own…well, nothing in this chapter.**

Penny's arms ached by the time she climbed four flights of stairs with the two bags of food. Maybe, since he always carried everything, Leonard's title of "The Muscle" wasn't too hyperbolized.

She'd managed to convince Leonard and Sheldon that she could easily get the food on her way home from work. She drove right by the place, she argued, so it made sense. They'd readily agreed, probably because of the weight of the damn bags. The handles were stretching out and digging into her arms, forcing her to stop every ten seconds to adjust.

She set the bags down outside of Leonard's apartment and knocked. He answered the door and greeted her with a smile. "Hey."

"Hey," she said. "How are you? How's work? Where's Stacy?"

Leonard didn't roll his eyes, but Penny had a sneaking suspicion that he wanted to. "I'm fine. Work's the same as always, and she's not coming tonight. She has conferences."

"Oh." Penny nodded. "Well, I got food."

"Thank you," he said, both of them reaching down for the bags at the same time. Their heads bumped, and Penny staggered a step backward, a hand on the top where his had hit. "Ow," they said in unison, Penny blinking hard and fast to stop the automatic tears from rushing to her eyes. "Are you okay?" Leonard asked, appearing concerned.

"Oh, yeah," she said, nodding like it was no big deal, like her head wasn't throbbing. "Yeah, not a problem."

Her voice sounded way too casual, but socially inept Leonard didn't seem to notice. "We'll get some ice, anyway," he said, turning toward the coffee table with the food. "Just in case."

"Okay." She agreed, keeping a hand on the bump that was forming as she followed him. "Where are the others?"

"Howard can't come; Bernadette's mother is sick so he took Bernadette over to see her. Sheldon wanted to go to the comic book store in the hopes of spotting Wil Wheaton-Wackadoodle has a new lightsaber that he wants to try out. So it's just you, and me, and Raj."

Penny hadn't noticed the astro physicist sitting at the counter in the kitchen. "Hey, Raj," she said, smiling. He smiled back at her, getting off of the stool to join Leonard and Penny at the table. Leonard sat in the white chair, Penny in Sheldon's spot, because that was closest to Leonard's seat, and Raj next to her, in the center of the couch.

"So what did you bring us?" Leonard asked, peering into the bags. "Wow, you bought for all six of us!"

_All five of us plus Stacy._ "Yeah." She reached in and pulled out three containers. "These were theirs…here's ours. Leonard, I got you your special order from the restaurant. Black beans and all."

"Thank you," he said, smiling. Penny gave Raj his food, and accepted the money he gave her. "How much do I owe you?" Leonard asked. "I don't have money on me but I'll get it from my room later."

"Eh," Penny waved a hand. "Don't worry about it."

Leonard looked confused. "No, I'm pretty sure I have to worry about it. I'll give you ten bucks sometime."

"If you want to," she said, taking a bite of her food. "Mmmm. This is good," she said. "Never had this before but…Mmmm! Much better than the food Luke Skywalker brought to Dagobah in _Star Wars, Episode Five, The Empire Strikes Back._"

"Yeah, that's true," Leonard said, nodding.

"How you get so big, eating food of this kind?" She said in a gravelly voice meant to sound like Yoda's. She smiled slightly when Leonard and Raj both laughed. She wondered if now was a good time to bring up the letter she'd taken so sneakily from his mailbox. She decided against it; saving the letter was a better idea because she could have an excuse to talk to him later.

Leonard's phone started to ring. "Sorry," he said, removing it from his pocket and answering. "Hello? Aren't you supposed to be…she what? How is that your fault? Uh-huh…okay, just calm down. All right. Okay. Bye." He hung up and shook his head. "A mother was angry at her son's grade and is petitioning to have Stacy fired."

Penny raised her eyebrow. "What?"

"Yeah. The class average is an A, though, so there's no chance of that going anywhere."

"Oh, that's good," Penny said, a fake smile pasted on her face.

Leonard looked at her and gave a deep sigh. "Penny, just stop." She was about to protest, saying that she didn't know what he was talking about, but he held up a hand to stop her. "Stacy really likes you, Penny. She thinks you're great. Funny, and witty, and all."

Penny supposed that that meant that Leonard didn't want her to hurt Stacy's feelings by making her dislike for the woman too apparent. She lowered her eyes and put her hand in her lap. "Sorry."

Leonard looked terribly confused. "O…kay." There was an awkward silence before Leonard turned to Raj. "So, Raj…oh yeah," he said, realizing that conversation between the two of them was pointless.

It took Penny a moment to absorb the conversation; she was feeling dizzy and incoherent all of a sudden. She wondered briefly if Leonard was causing it. He seemed to notice, giving her an odd look before jumping up and saying, "the ice!"

Her head! Of course. "Ice," she repeated as Leonard came toward her with an ice cube wrapped in a washcloth. She shuddered, chilled, when the ice touched her head.

* * *

Penny woke up on the couch in her apartment, and upon remembering that the last thing she remembered placed her in Leonard's living room, she rose, terribly confused.

"Hello, Penny."

She jumped, whipping her head around to see Raj sitting at the counter, holding a beer. "What are you…how did I get here?"

"Leonard went to take a pee and you started rambling about how much you wanted to date him again and…how do I say this nicely…jump his bones?"

"Oh, my God," Penny said, putting a hand to her mouth. Leonard had a girlfriend, and he knew that she knew it. If he'd heard her talking like that… "Did he hear?"

"No. I carried you over here and told Leonard that you said you were feeling better, but you wanted to go home and lay down."

Penny felt a rush of relief. "Thanks, Raj."

He shrugged. "No problem. We need you guys to get back together, so…" he shrugged.

Penny jumped up, ignoring her aching head, and threw her arms around her friend.

* * *

Leonard entered the restaurant and looked around. He glanced at the time and frowned. It should be about time for her break…there she was. "Bernadette!" he called.

She spotted him and headed over. "Hi, Leonard."

"Are you going on break?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. Why?"

Leonard hesitated, cocking his head. "Could I…could I talk to you?"

She looked confused. "Sure. Come back here." She led him outside the restaurant and behind, where the employees that drove to work parked their cars. There was no one else around, but Bernadette glanced about before facing Leonard. "What do you need?"

"I need…I need relationship advice, and I think I need it from a girl." At Bernadette's encouraging nod, Leonard continued. "See…here's the thing. Stacy's great. She's always on time, and she's sweet, and smart, and sensible, and…we haven't fought or anything. I feel like I should be madly in love with her."

"But you're not?"

Leonard looked down. "No." He put his hands in his pockets. "I like her. A lot, but…" he paused, trying to put his thoughts into words. "My relationship with her is similar to what I had with Stephanie Barnett. But I don't like Stacy as much as I liked Stephanie, or Joyce, or Leslie, and she's much nicer than any of them." He sighed. "I'm just so confused. Haven't you…ever had this problem?"

Bernadette was silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly. "To be honest, right now my biggest problem has to do with my schooling."

"Oh." Leonard looked up. "Well, maybe I can…help you with that. You know, friends sharing problems?" He motioned to Bernadette. "I shared mine…why…why don't you share yours?"

Bernadette smiled at his awkwardness. Penny had told her that when he was worried about something, Leonard suggested that both he and the person he was talking to talk about problems. His _mind works that way,_ Penny had said. _He tries to figure out his own problems by figuring out yours. I don't know if it works or not, but just go with it. _"Well," she said, "I've been trying to perfect this experiment, about…not important. This experiment is really complicated, and I've gotten pretty close to the desired range that my professor has set. But the method that I'm using now has never gotten me _to_ the range-pretty close, but no matter how close it is and how good the result looks…it's still wrong. I almost want to take the slightly lower grade because it's so frustrating trying to get it right, but I know it'll be worth it in the end."

Leonard nodded. "Well, I know what that's like," he said. "My experiments never go right."

Bernadette smiled. "I'll get it right eventually; I'm just lazy. But I'm supposed to be helping you with Stacy. What…exactly do you need help with?"

Leonard shrugged. "How do I care for her more than I already do?"

Bernadette shook her head. "You can't."

Leonard furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I wish I could tell you stuff about women, and what we do to make men fall in love with us, but the truth is, there is no set formula. You can't will affection, Leonard." She shrugged. "Sorry I can't give you any more help."

He nodded. "I…I guess I didn't have a feeling you'd say that, but its okay. We'll work it out."

"If it's meant to be, it'll be," Bernadette said. "Penny always tells me that. If she's the one, love will happen."


	8. The Needs of the Many

**I'd gotten a review asking for more Stacy, and luckily, that's what I had planned for this chapter. There's not much-I want to make the majority of the story from Penny's POV, but it'll give us their relationship from the outside looking in…literally!**

**I own Stacy. :D Nothing else.**

Penny lay in bed, Schrodinger asleep on her stomach. It was only seven-thirty, but her headache had barely subsided from the day before and she found that grounds for breaking her Never Before Ten rule.

"Your new toy will probably be here tomorrow," she said to the cat. He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment before yawning and closing them again. "Lazy kitty," she said fondly.

Suddenly, Schrodinger jumped up and bolted off of her stomach. Penny was confused momentarily, then realized that the cat had been lying across her hoodie pocket, which contained her now buzzing cell phone. Sleepily, she retrieved it, while wiggling her fingers encouragingly in Schrödinger's direction. The cat hesitated for only a moment before jumping back on her stomach, forgiving her. Penny smiled and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Penny!" It was Howard. "Leonard has a date with Stacy in a less than half and hour. Her place."

Penny groaned. "Why would you tell me that, Howard? Now I won't be able to sleep."

"Sleep?" Howard sounded incredulous. "No, we're following him!"

"Who is?" Penny scratched Schrödinger under the chin, smiling at the cat's purr. Just then there was a knock at the door. "Hang on a sec," she said to Howard. She rose from the bed and put on her slippers. Dusting cat hair off of her hoodie, she went to the door and opened it, yelping in surprise.

"That was longer than 'a sec'," Howard said, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Howard looked at her like she had three heads. "We're going to spy on Leonard and Stacy during their date."

Penny blinked. "Wait, seriously?"

He nodded. "Raj said that when he brought you here last night you said you wanted to spy on them. I thought 'good idea'." He motioned toward the stairs with his head. "Ready?"

"Do you know where they live?"

Howard nodded. "Fifteen minute's drive."

Penny though about it for a second. "Just let me check the cat's water, then we can go."

* * *

Stacy lived in a small house very similar to Howard's own home. "Probably built by the same whack-job," Howard commented after they parked the car half a block away. "This way."

Penny followed him up to the house, frowning when she saw Leonard's car in the driveway, even though she knew it would be there. Howard saw her face and responded by grabbing her arm and pulling her around to the back of the house. "I staked out the place earlier; that's why I was late getting you."

"You thought this out, didn't you?" Penny asked in pleasant surprise.

Howard stopped, as if gathering his words. "The needs of the many," he said, "outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. As you and Leonard being together is beneficial to all of us, it's my duty to help that happen. Now, come this way."

Penny rolled her eyes and followed him. Of course they were doing this mostly for personal gain. But hey, she'd seen _Willy Wonka, _when the boy came home with the bread and his mother asked where he'd gotten it. "Why does it matter where he got it?" asked the old grandfather. "Point is, he got it!" So, she figured, who cared _why_ they were helping her get Leonard back?

Around the side of the house was a window that was partially obstructed by brush. Penny and Howard crept up to the side of it and pushed the brush aside, peering in the window. "I feel so creepy," she whispered.

"Shhh."

Leonard and Stacy were sitting on the couch, laughing. "No, I really did make us spaghetti," she said, removing the lid from a pot that was sitting on the coffee table.

Penny made a face. "I can't watch this." She turned away.

Howard pulled her back. "Don't you want to see what he sees in her?"

"No. Yes." Penny shook her head. "I don't know." She put her face back to the window.

"Do you like it?" Stacy was asking.

_Say no._ Penny had no such luck. "It's very good. Penny makes good pasta, too, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Stacy put her fork down. "I didn't know she cooked. She any good?"

Leonard laughed. "Better than me."

Stacy cocked her head. "So, is she any good?" Leonard shook his head playfully at her.

"I played Wii last night with my neighbors," Stacy said, changing the subject as she put another mouthful of pasta in her mouth. "Beat their asses to the ground."

"That's good," Leonard said. "Sheldon almost always wins, but sometimes I can give him a run for his money. I can win when we play teams, though."

Stacy wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Are you paired up with Sheldon or Penny?"

"Sheldon when Penny's not there. And if Bernadette or Amy comes then Raj flops teams."

"Gotcha." Stacy put her food down and leaned back against the couch. "Want to go bowling on Saturday?" Penny felt both a little better and a little worse when Leonard flinched and then said no. "Okay," Stacy said. She shifted her weight so she was lying against Leonard's chest, and he adjusted his own position. "Are you staying tonight?"

Leonard smiled down at her. "If it's all right with you."

"Duh!" Stacy said, laughing. She reached up to touch his chin with her pointer finger.

Penny turned away from the window, putting her back against the wall of the house and sliding down until she was sitting in the mulch. "Ugh. They look so damn cute in there."

"…yeah." Howard was still standing, looking confused.

Penny cocked her head. "What?"

"It's just…nothing."

Penny cocked her head in the other direction. She'd known Howard for years, and whatever he was thinking of definitely wasn't "nothing." She raised an eyebrow. "Howard."

He looked uncomfortable. "Just something Bernadette said. I'm not supposed to tell anyways."

"It has to do with me? What did she say?" Howard gave her a frantic look and put a finger to his lips, motioning toward the window. Penny clapped a hand over her mouth. "What did she say? Why can't you tell me?"

"She just wanted to tell you herself," Howard said. "But…okay, so Leonard came to the Cheesecake Factory to talk to Bernadette about Stacy."

"Did he say anything about me?" Penny wanted to know.

"He just told her that Stacy's a great girl. Smart, pretty, funny…and sweet and rational, but for some reason he can't feel anything more than general affection for her."

"Well," Penny said, trying to reason, "he's only known her for a few weeks."

"Yes," Howard acknowledged, hunkering down next to her. "But you know how he goes on about his girlfriends…he talks about Stacy but not like he did with them. And she's more of what he wanted than any of them were."

Penny shifted her weight, a wood chip was poking her ankle. "So are you saying that I've ruined him? He can't love anymore because of what I did?"

Howard pushed his tongue into his cheek. "Um…" Penny hung her head. "No, no!" He said quickly, putting a hand on her arm until she looked up. "Think of it this way: there's a relationship weakness here."

"But why?" Penny asked. "I see no reason for him to not be crazy into her."

Howard rose and peered through the window. "Give them a few minutes."

"Oh, ugh!" Penny got up. "We're going." She tugged Howard's arm until he stood.

"Fine." They crept around the house and jogged back toward the car. "Any ideas on the weakness?" Howard asked her.

"No. She seems perfect." They reached Howard's car and slowed to a walk. "Good thing you brought the car," she said as an aside, "because no way was I riding on the back of your Vespa!"

"Yeah, I figured," he said, nodding. "I'll get Sheldon to meet up with Amy so they can work out the problem."

"The…?" Penny was confused. "About Stacy?"

"Yeah. They said they have a plan to diagram the relationship and study it for weaknesses."

"Oh." Penny nodded. "Sounds like a good plan." She glanced down at her nails, chipped from lack of attention. "So…based on tonight, do you really think they're ever…breaking up?"

Howard thought about it, moving into the right turn lane. "Just based on tonight, I'd say no. But I know what he said to Bernadette, so that's the key piece of evidence here. That's revealing a crack. Now we just have to figure out what makes it break."

**Anyone have any idea? There was a clue in one of the last two chapters…:D And I know there was a lot of dialogue in this one. I try not to do that, but it felt okay in this one, since we didn't have much internal soliloquies. **

**Review, please! And please, if you haven't read my update at the beginning of my profile page, do so. One word reviews really do bum me out.**

**Thanks for reading so far!**


	9. Out of Your Hands

**Okay, here's the next installment. First of all, I'd like to just remind my readers that this fic is far from over. If you read and feel the need to tell me "this seemed odd" or "off" or "I don't know if they'd do that," feel free, I just want to assure you that I analyze this show and these characters to death, and, as this chapter shows, actions that happen in earlier chapters follow through to the next. It's just hard to make that clear when you're posting one chapter at a time. So enjoy, and try not to fret too much! :D**

**I own…okay, Stacy is in this chapter a little bit, so not **_**nothing**_**…*is giggling while remembering 1.09 bedroom scene***

"So, how's it going?" Bernadette asked her the next day at work. They were in the break room; Penny had been sitting there for a few minutes with a salad; Bernadette had just entered with her own lunch. It was the first time they'd been on break at the same time in almost two weeks.

"Fine," Penny said suspiciously. "…why do you ask?"

"You have an odd scratch on your leg." Bernadette said, pointing.

Penny put her foot on the lowest rung of the bar stool next to her. There _was_ a scratch on her calf. "Yeah…I showered last night before going to bed, so I wouldn't have seen that this morning."

"You did this while sleeping?" Bernadette asked, looking suspicious now. "What the heck?"

Penny shifted her weight. "I didn't go to bed. Howard called me and…we kinda went out to Stacy's house."

Bernadette's eyes widened. "What?"

Penny nodded sheepishly. "We looked in the window of her living room and kind of spied on the date."

"Kind of?" Bernadette said in disbelief. "You don't 'kind of' spy on someone."

Penny sighed. "Okay, we spied on them. I wasn't going to _do _anything, I was just…I guess I wanted to see what he saw in her. How she's different from me. Because from what I've seen…there's not any major difference, so there has to be something that I just don't know about…"

"Okay," Bernadette took hold of Penny's arm and led her into the break room. "I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, but you can't ever do that again." She held up a finger when Penny opened her mouth to respond. "No, listen to me. Remember when I was upset over Howard, and you said to me, 'if it's meant to be, it'll be?" At Penny's nod, Bernadette continued. "Well, right back at you, Penny. If you and Leonard are meant to be, then it'll happen. But the same goes for Leonard and Stacy, and if they aren't meant to be and break up, and later on Leonard realizes that you spied on them, or had any involvement in their breakup, however indirect, he'll resent you forever for it. If they're meant to break up, it'll happen. But you have to stay out of their way now, and that includes staying away from their dates. Even if the best you can get is a close friendship with him, that's better than nothing, isn't it?"

Penny sighed. She knew that Bernadette was right. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time," she said.

Cheryl poked her head in the door on her way to the kitchen. "I have those moments a lot," she joked.

Bernadette smirked while waving her away. "I know how badly you want him back. Just don't do this the wrong way."

"What _am_ I supposed to do, then?" Penny asked.

Bernadette shrugged. "Keep hanging out with him. That's not cheating. If you see him and Stacy in public, go up and say hello. If you and he are doing laundry at the same time, talk. You just have to realize that it's kinda out of your hands right now. Stacy came to Leonard after you, and one could very convincingly argue that you've had your shot. Plus, as you broke up with him, going after him now can make you seem…"

"Okay, okay, I get it," she said, waving her hand. "I have to prove myself without doing anything that would make him resent me."

"And good luck," Bernadette said, smiling. "Personally, I think you two are adorable together."

Penny smiled, feeling her cheeks turn pink. "Thanks," she said.

Bernadette gave her a hug.

* * *

"So I'm very confused. He's told Bernadette that he's not as enthusiastic about his relationship with Stacy as he'd thought he'd be. But yesterday…I'm really glad that I know what he told Bernadette, otherwise I'd be such a mess right now. But still…what you say and what you actually think and feel are very different things. I know that first hand. So really, I risked our friendship by creeping around, and it was for nothing."

There was a long pause, and Penny sighed. "You just want your toy." She continued to fiddle with the box. Shipping companies really used too much tape.

Schrödinger jumped up from his spot on the couch and stood near the door, head held high in curiosity. Penny stood up and moved toward the door, hearing faint voices from the other side.

"I wish I could stay the rest of the day, but I have all those assignments to grade."

"I understand," came Leonard's voice. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks, sweetie," Stacy said.

Penny looked down at Schrödinger. "Did you hear her call him 'sweetie'?" She whispered. Schrödinger yawned. "Okay," she said, bending to scratch his back. "I'll chill out."

"Leonard!"

Penny picked her cat up and leaned back against the door. Sheldon sounded angry.

"What do you want, Sheldon?"

"You were going to do your laundry after Stacy left?"

"Has Stacy gone?"

"Yes."

"Then can you get your laundry basket off of my coffee table?"

There was a pause, and then Penny heard Leonard sigh. "Yes." There was another pause, and then Penny heard the door click shut.

She returned to the couch, grabbing a pair of scissors and slitting the top of the box. "Here you go, Kitty," she said, pulling the stuffed mouse out and dangling it in front of him. Schrödinger lifted a paw of the ground and swatted at it. "Hold on," she scolded gently, glancing at the door as she fiddled with the batteries. The cat looked at her, then back at the door, and then back to her again, meowing.

"What?" She asked him, feeling a bit angry. "I don't care that he's doing his laundry." She slipped the two batteries into the box and snapped it shut. Schrödinger was still watching her. "Seriously! Why would I care?"

Schrödinger meowed, rising up on his hind legs and putting his front paws on her leg. "Stop interrogating me and play with your stupid toy," she said, turning it on and tossing it across the room. The mouse skittered in circles, and the cat eagerly pounced on it.

Penny smiled, sinking down onto the couch and opening a book that Bernadette had loaned her, but she couldn't focus. She knew that by now, Leonard would be in the laundry room, and she did have a lot of dirty clothes lying around…it wouldn't seem so odd if she just happened to wander down there.

**Let me know what you think! And please don't think my first A/N is discouraging reviews, I'm just trying to assure you that I've thought this out. It's just a long fic and everything will (hopefully) make sense once it's completed.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Not My Place

**This chapter is pretty short, but if I added it to…well, by the end you'll know what's coming next, it would turn out to be thousands of words and I don't like having insanely long chapters. So I'm going with this. :D This is leading into another attempt at Penny winning him back, reminding him of her, without doing anything to make him hate her for it.**

**Still own nothing.**

Penny carried her basket to the laundry room door and peered in. Leonard was standing near the first machine with his back to her, dropping clothes inside. Penny walked in as casually as possible, attempting to appear surprised that she'd run into him there. "Oh. Hey Leonard, how's it hanging?"

He turned slowly to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

She shook her head. "Slang, sorry." She went to a machine and opened it, dumping her laundry inside. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," he said, nodding. "Not bad."

"How's Stacy?" Penny asked, casually – or so she hoped.

"Good," Leonard said, nodding.

"Not living together yet?" she teased.

He smirked. "No. Won't make that mistake again."

Penny looked down at the washing machine. "Look," she began.

Leonard followed her gaze. "At what?"

She looked at him in confusion for a moment. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, look, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, a thin cloud of suspicion coming over his face. "What about?"

"Stacy."

Leonard furrowed his brow, thrusting his jaw forward and cocking his head. "Am I going to like this?"

"Yes," Penny said with conviction. "I want to apologize. You're free to date whoever you want, and it's not my place to intrude on that. I've done and said some things that I am not proud of, and I want us to be able to be friends again."

Clearly, that wasn't what Leonard had been expecting at all. Penny didn't know if she should be happy that he appeared pleasantly surprised, or upset that he really thought she was going to make things difficult again. Either way, his face was softening and he smiled at her. "Of course we can be friends," he said warmly. "Stacy can't change the fact that we've known each other for years, and we know just about all there is to know about each other…I mean…yeah. My having a girlfriend is no reason for us to stop being friends."

Penny did feel relieved to hear that. They couldn't have a romantic relationship without being friends first, anyway. "Good. I'm glad."

Leonard smiled, reaching behind him to move his laundry basket toward him. He looked back at her and smiled. "Come here." He stepped toward her, holding out his arms.

Penny had to remind herself that this was a standard hug, and to pull back after two Mississippis. But she almost didn't mind. Although they'd gotten along better since the big blowup in the hallway, she'd never formally apologized, and it felt good to know that they were officially on good terms again.

"So, how did you get that scratch on your leg?" He asked, pointing to it.

"Oh, you noticed!" She said, realizing an instant later that she sounded too happy about that. She quickly spun a lie. "I thought I had covered it enough, guess not. I was moving around Mrs. Gunderson in the hallway and scraped it on the brick corner."

"Ouch."

Penny shrugged. "Eh. It's fine." _No way am I telling him about how I actually got that. Not now, not ever. Well, maybe in fifty years I'll tell it to our grandchildren "hey, funny story, one time Grandpa was dating this other girl…" Okay, maybe not._ "How did you get that nasty blood blister on your thumb?" She asked.

Leonard looked at her in surprise. "How did you notice _that_?"

"Come on, I'm very observant," she said. "You know that. Now spill. How did it happen?"

"I was trying to change Stacy's flat tire."

_Stacy._ "Of course you were," she mumbled. "Nothing," she insisted when Leonard cocked his head in confusion. "I was thinking about something else."

"Okay. Hey," he said suddenly. "I'd been meaning to ask you, we're all going to a Star Wars party next Friday. Want to come?"

Penny perked up. "Really? Who's going?"

Leonard thought a moment. "Well, there's me, Stacy, you, Sheldon, Howard and Bernadette, Raj, Leslie, Amy, Stuart…maybe a few other people. We're dressing up; it's going to be a lot of fun."

Penny nodded, smiling. "Sounds like fun! You know how much I love _Star Wars. _Is Sheldon requesting a costume meeting?"

"It's tomorrow, actually. During dinner."

"I'll be there," she promised, wondering, momentarily, if he had been going to invite her prior to the apology. Then her thoughts turned to exactly what _Star Wars_ character she would be, and as it turned out, the decision was not hard.

**Who is she going to be? Any guesses? ****Next chapter will be up soon! :D**


	11. Is That Zam Wesell?

**Okay, we're getting to the homestretch now. Not the end of the fic-not by a long shot, but things are going to start happening. My plotline and map for the rest of the fic will be complicated, and revealed slowly, so bear with me now. Some things may appear confusing or pointless, but as you read on it'll make more sense. I just have to portray it from Penny or Leonard's point of view, so it's not going to be completely clear to us just yet. But it's coming, don't worry! And those of you that will find this fic after it's finished, read on and you'll find everything out! :D**

Penny stood in her bedroom, looking in the mirror. The costume had looked really impressive in the store, but now she felt a bit too tall for the character she was dressing as. Granted, pretty much anyone was taller than him, but still, Penny felt about as elegant as Amy in her gray sleepover sweats. She adjusted the headpiece, frowning at her reflection. Well, no matter how tall she was, anyone at the party would be able to tell what character she was. And after all, she didn't need to look attractive-and in a way this was the Penny that Leonard had fallen in love with. He knew her body; he needed to remember _this_.

"What do you think, Kitty?" she asked Schrödinger, who was batting at the laces on her shoes. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" The cat looked up. "Is it too much?" she asked. "Is he going to somehow take this as me _not_ wanting to be with him?" Schrödinger looked up at her, and then back down at the laces. A claw was caught in the lace, and Penny felt the shoe tighten as the cat jerked his paw in an attempt to free it. She bent down and unhooked the paw. "Silly boy," she said, scratching Schrödinger on the head. The cat pushed against her hand, purring. Penny picked him up, pivoted, and set him on the bed. "Time for me to go," she said, sighing and pulling at her robe. "Can you tell I'm nervous?" She smiled down at the cat. "Of course not. Be good, okay?"

She re-tied her shoes, picked up the lightsaber, and walked out into the living room, feeling anxious. When they'd suggested costumes, this was the first one that had come to mind. Now she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. She felt like…Penny smiled. She felt like a nerd.

Her realization making her suddenly more confidant, Penny smiled and headed out the door. She crossed the hallway and knocked on the door.

A man covered from head to toe in white and black plastic answered. "Hello," came the mechanical voice.

Penny rolled her eyes, looking down at the man. "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?" she asked.

"Aren't you a little tall for Yoda?" he retorted. "And besides, myself and Leonard, storm trooper and Darth Vader respectively, have girlfriends, meaning we can't be showing much skin lest the women at the party want to jump our bones."

"Fair enough," Penny said, making a face and then smiling around Howard to the three men sitting in the living room. "Hey guys." Raj waved.

"Hello, Penny," Sheldon said. "You just quoted Princess Leia while dressed like Yoda."

Penny glared at him. "Yes, actually," she snapped. "I am aware of that. I know a lot about _Star Wars_. Don't I, Leonard?"

"Yeah," he said shortly. "Yeah. Just great."

Penny bit her lip. Maybe reminding him of quoting Yoda wasn't such a good idea. "Yeah, so…where's everyone else?"

"Leslie and Stuart can't come," Howard said. "Raj made up some reasons why that give even me unbearable mental images. Stacy's in the bathroom, Bernadette in Leonard's room looking in the mirror for the tenth time."

"Oh, okay," Penny said. "So it's pretty much us, tonight. And Stacy."

"Yep," Leonard said, glaring at her. Penny was confused. She hadn't said a single bad thing about Stacy…and it was only a few days after she'd apologized and everything seemed okay. They had been on good terms at the costume meeting, too. Maybe it was because she hadn't said "Us, Bernadette, and Stacy," or maybe it was her Yoda costume.

She decided to change the subject. "Sheldon, is that blue lightsaber the correct color? Before it was digitally remastered?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yes, Penny, it is. I searched long and hard to find the coloring I desired…"

"Yeah, don't care about the details," she said, cutting him off. "Raj, you make a lovely Bail Organa." Raj bowed proudly, grinning ear to ear. "Did you loan Leonard your shirt to play the Imperial March?"

"Don't I wish," Leonard muttered. "I have my voice changer, but he wouldn't let me use his damn shirt." Leonard spiked the napkin he had balled up in his fist onto the coffee table.

"What's wrong with you?" she blurted, realizing an instant later that the words were a mistake.

Leonard looked at her for a long moment, and then shook his head. "Never mind."

On an ordinary day, she'd have pressed him for details, but Penny wasn't sure how strong the ground they stood on was. "Okay," she said hesitantly, backing off.

"Here, Penny is!"

Penny looked away from Leonard to the hallway, where someone who she guessed was Bernadette was walking toward her from, smiling. "Oh, my God," Penny said, ignoring Sheldon's twitch at her choice of phrase, "who are you…what the…"

Bernadette's arms, neck, and face were painted red and white, her hair sprayed and manipulated to stick out and alongside her face, painted dark gray and off white. Penny recognized the character, but was shocked at the amount of time Bernadette must have put into the costume.

"Shaak Ti, it be?" Howard asked, coming up and sliding an arm around his girlfriend's waste, leaning in sideways to kiss her cheek.

"Howard, you're going to mess up my makeup!" Bernadette protested, turning so she could kiss him on the lips. "That's better."

"Are we almost ready to go?" Howard asked the rest of the group, smiling at his girlfriend.

"As soon as Stacy gets out," Leonard said, glancing at Penny again. She didn't like the look on his face. He didn't necessarily look like she'd done something to upset him, but he definitely wasn't happy. "Then we can leave."

"Okay." She risked a smile in his direction, and he smiled back at her. While it wasn't the most natural thing in the world, it was a smile, and she was happy about that.

"So, how's your cat?" Bernadette asked.

"Oh, his adorwibble," Penny said, realizing mere syllables into the baby talk that it sounded stupid. "He follows me everywhere in the apartment, which is very dog like, but…" she shrugged. "He's great. Loves those little treats that Sheldon showed me; I just had to go out and get some more yesterday."

"I'm ready!" The voice startled everyone, their heads shooting in the direction of the sound. Then Stacy appeared, and it was very obvious that it was Stacy. She was wearing tight black pants, a black skintight shirt, and a thick black belt. "Hey, Penny."

"Hi. Stacy. Who are you…who are you supposed to be?"

Stacy grinned, put her hands on her hips, and pivoted ninety degrees and back again. "Zam Wesell."

Penny studied the outfit a moment more. "Yeah, that could work. Nice!"

"Thank you!" Stacy said. "You're looking mighty fine as…Yoda, too."

"Spent time on this costume, I did," she said in Yoda – Speak, grinning all the while.

"Okay," Leonard said irritably, rising and using his hand to pivot Stacy's shoulder toward the door. "It's time to go."

Penny followed the guys out the door, glancing at Bernadette. _What's wrong with him?_ She asked in lip – speak. Bernadette shrugged. _No clue,_ she mouthed back. Penny bit her lip, worried. What the hell had set Leonard off?

**Hope you liked it, and I promise, this chapter wasn't just written because I wanted to update; it has a purpose! :D**

**Review if you like, and please, I'm trying to be nice about this, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I really don't appreciate one word reviews. It makes me feel like the reviewer didn't even read it and just put in a quick comment. Please, I'm asking you, don't do that.**


	12. Confusion

**Okay, here's the next chapter! I'm 99% sure that I'll have another up tomorrow…if not tonight. Tonight is a possibility. Hope you like this chapter; it's another one that may not make sense until the fic is finished.**

_Dear Leonard,_

_You confuse me. A lot. When I apologized to you the other day it seemed great, like we were friends again and everything was okay. Then the night of the party, I come over to the apartment and you're all bitter. I start quoting _Star Wars_ and you get even more upset. I didn't even quote the line that made you tell me you love me. You confuse me so much-it's been three days since then and I've barely seen you. Maybe my attempts to get you back have made you all the more madly in love with Stacy. Just my dumb luck._

"How the hell is this supposed to help me?" Penny asked.

"It will," Bernadette told her. "I've read that the best way, when you have thoughts spinning around in your head, to write it all out in letter format, and then destroying it. Just keep writing."

Penny was skeptical. "Okay." She put her pencil back down on the notepaper.

_I really felt like you were angry with me. You just seemed, well, angry. Angry and frustrated. Every time anyone talked like Yoda or I quoted something, anything, you got angry and glared at me. It must have been me because Howard and Raj didn't say anything about it and Stacy wasn't quoting or talking like anyone or doing anything at all, and Bernadette had run into that friend of Stuart's that she met somewhere and why would you be mad at her? It had to be me. What the hell was your reasoning for that? I wasn't trying anything._

"Bernadette, this is stupid," Penny said, throwing the pen down. "I don't even know why it's bothering me so much."

"I don't blame you," Bernadette said. "You were yourself. You didn't try to push Stacy out of the way. Sure, you quoted _Star Wars_ and dressed like Yoda, but to a normal person, that's not something to stand out. Leonard may have thought that you were doing it on purpose, but it's casual enough that you could argue coincidence."

"See," Penny said, frustrated, "I'm not even sure if he was mad at me. He just seemed…mad." Suddenly, Penny frowned. "And why are we doing this here?"

"Seems as good a place as any," Bernadette said. "And you said you wanted to get your frustrations out _right now._"

"We're sitting on the ground three feet from the entrance to my apartment building," Penny pointed out.

Bernadette shrugged. "You don't normally hang around her, so it's the perfect place. You'll think more clearly."

"I guess."

_And seriously, your girlfriend's costume was terrible. Just because you wear all black doesn't mean that you can pull of Zam Wesell. You could have had a jar of fake Kouhuns or you could say "sleemo" a few times. Seriously, give it a little effort._

"A little bitter, are we?" Bernadette enquired.

Penny snatched the paper up to her chest. "Stop reading over my shoulder!"

"I don't have to," Bernadette pointed out. "You're talking it as you write."

"Oh." Penny frowned. "I guess I…oh!" She froze, looking down the street. Bernadette followed her gaze. Leonard, Stacy, and another woman who neither waitress recognized were walking up the road toward them. The third woman had dark hair, like Stacy, and was talking in a clear voice about something to do with chess sets while Leonard nodded at her and Stacy walked a pace behind. Penny kept studying the woman. She'd never seen her before.

Stacy noticed them first, stepping around Leonard and waving. "Hi, guys!"

"Hey, Stace," Bernadette called casually. "-y," she added upon seeing the look on Penny's face. "What?" she whispered. "It's a common nickname. One of the girls that my mom babysat was…oh, for gosh sakes, hide that paper!"

Penny was sure there was a look of panic on her face as she crumbled the letter and shoved it into her purse. "Hey, Stacy. Leonard."

"Hey guys," Leonard said, the three of them coming to a stop in front of Penny and Bernadette. Leonard turned to address the third woman. "Nice seeing you again."

"You too," she said, smiling at him. "Maybe I'll see you around." She turned to give Penny and Bernadette a polite smile before heading up the road. "Stay away from that alcohol, Leonard!" she called, cupping her hands to be heard better.

"I'll try," he said jokingly.

"Who was that?" Penny asked as soon as the woman was out of earshot.

"Gilda," Leonard said. "She's a scientist; we tried an experiment together once, about a year before I met you. It didn't go well."

"Ah." Penny nodded. "So, what were you and Stacy up to?"

"We were just talking about stuff," Leonard said. "Went for a walk."

"Was it a good talk?" Bernadette asked. Penny wondered briefly if she was just making conversation or trying to really get a sense of _what_ they talked about. Penny glanced at Stacy's left hand, then almost blushed as she realized how stupidly paranoid she was being.

"You know what?" Stacy said, looking at Leonard and smiling, "it was."

"Yeah, it was," he said, returning her smile.

Penny nodded, wanting so much to jump up and put her arms around Leonard; he still appeared upset about something, despite the smile. Clearly the walk with Stacy hadn't helped him fully unwind from whatever had bothered him yesterday. "That's good. Walks are good."

"Hey, um," Stacy began, looking slightly uncomfortable, "I've gotta go home…my niece…"

"Oh, right!" Leonard nodded. "It's her niece's birthday."

"Aw, that's nice," Penny said. "So, you're…" she stopped the _going to be going now?_ From coming out and changed it to "spending some time with her today?"

Stacy nodded. "Yep. I'd better be going now, actually." She put a hand on Leonard's wrist and squeezed it. "See you."

"See you," he repeated, smiling as he watched her go. Then the frown came back on his face. "I'm going upstairs," he said, turning and entering the apartment building.

"Was he announcing that, or talking to himself?" Bernadette asked Penny.

She shook her head. "No clue."

"Do you want to go up?"

"Wait." Penny pulled the crumbled paper ball out of her purse and flattened it.

_Why are you so upset? You have a great girlfriend. To be honest, I wanted to hate her at first, and I still hate that she has you and I don't, but she's such a nice girl. I really can't hate her anymore. In fact, I really would like her if she wasn't with you. But because of that, I just can't. And I know I'm petty; I can't help it. You have a serious girlfriend; I'm alone; I can afford to be a little petty. You're not even going to read this…but seriously, that really was a lame ass Zam Wesell costume. What the hell do I have to DO?_

**And no, I'm not going to be cliché and have him find the letter. ;)**


	13. Visit From A Sister

**Okay, so I set out to write the next chapter, and felt it to be too long to make only one chapter. So this one is fairly short, but yet ANOTHER one (yes, three in a day) will be up soon, and it is a continuation of this one. But there's a break at the end of this chapter so I decided to make it two so it won't be insanely long.**

Over the next week, Penny didn't see much of Leonard. He was always "at work." She of course assumed that "at work" meant "with Stacy," which made sense that he would code name it only if she let herself believe that he somewhat felt bad for dating her and was trying to spare the feelings that he now believed Penny had. She knew that her reasoning had more holes than a sponge, but as it gave her slight peace of mind, she made herself believe it. Sort of.

"Penny!"

Penny was standing at the mailbox when she heard the voice. Slamming Leonard's box shut, terrified she was caught taking the mail, she whirled around, not realizing that the letter she'd been retrieving was now jammed in the mailbox door. When she saw who it was, her jaw dropped. "Missy!"

"Hey there!" Missy said, grinning broadly. The two women crossed the lobby toward each other, met in front of the stairs, and hugged. "How are you?"

"Fine, fine," Penny lied, briefly feeling better as she saw her friend for the first time in years. "You look great!"

"So do you!" Missy exclaimed. "Love your hair!"

"Thanks! So what are you doing here?"

"I'm only in town for the next few hours; I'm waiting for a flight."

"Well, it's so nice to see you!" Penny said. "Did you ever get that manicure technique that we were working on down?"

"I did," she said, nodding.

"Great, great," Penny said, smiling and nodding back.

"So," Missy said excitedly. "How's your life going? How's Leonard?"

The smile slid off of Penny's face. "Yeah," she said glancing over her shoulder and noticing the letter. "Damn it," she muttered, rushing to the mailbox and fixing it. "Yeah, so, Leonard…" she said, turning back around. She forced a smile and gestured to the stairs. "Come on up to my place and I'll catch you up."

* * *

"Wow," Missy said, sipping the drink Penny'd given her. "That's pretty intense."

"Yeah." Penny held up the bottle that she'd been holding and tapped the label, for lack of something else to do. "It really sucks."

"What else are you going to do about it?" Missy asked.

"What else _can_ I do?" Penny asked, putting the bottle down and turning her hands palms up in a shrug. "I think he's happy with her. And I don't think it even matters anymore if he's dating her or not. He doesn't trust me, and…" she trailed off. "I can't say that I blame him. I was awful."

Missy nodded slowly. "From what Sheldon told me…"

"Oh, God, what did he tell you?"

Missy chuckled. "Well, for one thing, your overuse of those words. But other than that…"

"Oh wow," Penny said in surprise when Missy was done telling The Story of the Spring of 2010, according to Sheldon. "That's surprisingly accurate."

Missy shrugged. "Shelly always paid attention to detail." She sighed. "I'd say you've dug yourself a pretty big hole."

There was a long silence, Penny and Missy both nodding slowly, staring at the bottle on the table. Then Missy spoke. "You know…"

"What?"

"When you're in a deep hole," Missy began, "and you stand on someone's shoulders, you can stand on them, to get out."

"To continue the metaphor," Penny said after a moment, still not completely sure what Missy was suggesting, "what happens to the person that sacrifices herself to let the other out of the deep hole?"

"The other person isn't in love with Leonard Hofstadter, and she'll be in Texas this time tomorrow, far away from here." She leaned forward. "I've set up so many couples. I know what to look for, and I know you guys. Let me help."

Penny thought about it for a long minute. Finally, she sighed. "Just don't make it worse."

Missy smiled. "Promise."

**Next chapter Missy manages to get Leonard to talk to her. I'd say this fic…four more chapters? Five? I'm not totally sure yet. I'd say four, but if something like this happens again where I have to split a chapter in two it may end up being five or six.**


	14. Why Does It Have To Be Me?

**Okay, this isn't the last chapter, or even the penultimate. We're just starting to get an idea of Leonard's feelings about all of this. Hope you enjoy!**

"Hey, Leonard," Missy said, letting herself into apartment 4A.

_Just don't make it worse. _Missy had no intent of doing that. Her only mission was to see where Leonard stood on everything, and let her friend know. It couldn't be too hard; Leonard didn't have many friends, other than Penny, who he could talk about stuff to, and since he wouldn't talk to Penny _about _Penny, Missy figured she had a good chance of getting the full story. She just hoped she'd have good news for her friend when she returned.

Leonard was sitting in his chair, reading a comic book. "Missy! What are you doing here?"

"I'm in town for a few hours. I was visiting my friend, the one who got married in Disneyland years back, and their new daughter. I'm heading home, but my flight doesn't leave for another two hours. Shelly around?"

"He's probably at the comic book store," Leonard said, "with Stuart and Howard and Amy."

Missy tapped her foot. She wasn't sure how to start the conversation that she wanted to have. So she went with, "are you okay?"

Leonard looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno," Missy said, shrugging, entering the apartment, and closing the door. "You just look stressed. Or angry."

"I'm just frustrated. That's all." Leonard gave a small smile and a shrug, like it was no big deal.

"With what?"

"My life." Leonard sighed, then shook his head and gave a little laugh. "Seriously, it's not a big dea. Want me to drive you to see your brother?"

Missy sank down on the couch. "You wanna talk about it?"

"No!" Leonard almost looked amused. "Seriously, you don't want to hear my life's problems; I'm sure you have plenty of your own. Not that … you make bad decisions or anything, I just meant…" Leonard rambled on, as if trying to apologize for something he didn't say.

"I'm the perfect person to talk to," she pointed out, interrupting him. "I'll be out of here in a few hours. I won't be here to tell anyone, and you don't know anyone back in Texas. We're from totally different worlds – you telling me is getting whatever's bothering you off of your chest and at the same time it's almost like not telling anyone at all."

Leonard looked over at Missy and smiled. "Point."

"So, go ahead." Missy nodded to him.

"Okay," Leonard said, looking down at his hands. "Well…you know I was dating this woman called Stacy…"

"Yeah, Shelly told me."

"Okay, well…things were going good. Things were going okay. I liked her and she was smart and attractive and all…I wasn't head over heels for her, but I figured it was because I was getting too old for that. Then she showed up for our Star Wars party wearing this black outfit that wasn't really anything. Asked her who she was supposed to be, and she shrugged and said 'I figured someone in those movies had to have dressed like this!' So Howard and I thought it over and told her that her costume looked the most like Zam Wesell."

Missy frowned, nodding. "Of course. Zam Wesell. Right."

"At the party," Leonard continued after giving her a look that suggested that she was dead to him for not knowing who Zam Wesell was, "she really wasn't interested. The next day she called me and said 'we need to talk'."

Missy cringed. "Uh – oh."

Leonard shrugged. "But that's the thing. I didn't really mind. I was about to call and say the same thing to her." He looked up at Missy. "We decided to go for a walk the following day, and when we did, we walked all over the park. We went up and down every hill and down every side path. And we talked. We both realized that we don't have much in common, and what we do share – our love of pasta and Halo – weren't the things we value most in life. And neither of us have a real desire to learn about what the other person does. At least, not in the way that it would make our relationship work."

"I guess I don't understand, then," Missy said. "You broke up?"

"… yes."

"So you ended a relationship when you realized it wasn't meaningful. So why are you upset? If it wasn't as meaningful as you'd want, then why are you upset over it?"

Leonard gave a heavy sigh. "It's not just Stacy. I mean, she has something to do with it, but…"

"But what?"

"Why am I that guy?" Leonard snapped, his face going red with frustration in an instant. "Why? I only get to live once, and _I get to be that guy_." He stood up, spiked the tissue he'd found in his pocket a few minutes ago and had been balling up in his hand, and marched toward his room.

Missy got up. "Leonard, wait!" She followed him, stepping back as his bedroom door slammed in her face, then shook her hair out of her eyes and opened the door.

Leonard was lying on his bed, his glasses in his hand, his face mashed into the pillow. "What do you want?"

"What guy?" Missy asked him. "Damn it, Leonard, _what guy_?"

Leonard sat up. "My … entire life … is cockamamied up!"

"Okay," Missy said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She wished that her mother were here; Mary would know how to handle this. "How so? What guy are you, that you don't want to be?"

Leonard sat up. "I fell in love. Last year. I had been dating Penny for seven months, and I fell so hopelessly in love with her. But she couldn't love me back. And that spring, she hurt me time and time again, shattered my heart." He shook his head. "I sound so dramatic right now, but that's what it felt like. And I know now that she can't love me back; if I went back to her, I'd live for a while foolishly believing that we could last, and then she'd break my heart again. So I can't ever, ever go back to her."

"But?" Missy asked gently, somewhat surprised at what was coming out of Leonard's mouth. She'd come to visit her brother and walked into the middle of a movie, where she was the viewer who knew, knew how tortured both the guy and the girl was.

"But I can't help what I feel. All the girls I dated before Penny, well, they weren't that great, but I didn't know any more than that. Stacy's better, kinder, than any of them. And had I dated her before Penny, I would probably have married her. But what I felt for Stacy…I know more than that now. And now that I know what love feels like, I know what it doesn't feel like. And no other woman comes close to Penny."

"So go back to Penny!" Missy said, slapping her hands down on her knees. "You guys were great together!"

Leonard sat up. "No. I can't. See, I spent years going after her, wanting to be with her, and all its resulted in is this … terrible emotional pain that I just can't handle anymore. I have to stop being Whiny Leonard and be Strong Leonard." He looked down. "Even if that means I spend my life alone. I have my work … I'll just have to find a way to fall in love with that, like Sheldon has."

"Oh, Leonard," Missy said. "Shelly was born that way. I'm not sure it can be a learned behavior."

Leonard shrugged. "It's all I have."

"I can see how that's frustrating," Missy said slowly, carefully. She nodded. "I can see that." She bit her lip, unsure if she should push the issue farther. She knew Penny wanted to know, but she didn't know how much Leonard could take. So she ventured, "You can't think that Penny doesn't care about you, Leonard."

He shrugged. "I know she does, but…the time around our break up was really rough. I feel like I've taken one too many blows to the head. Then she has to go and make it worse," Leonard rambled. "She had to show up in that Yoda costume, and quote _Star Wars_, and do that while Stacy was there, not giving a rat's ass about the party. Penny had to juxtapose Stacy at her worst moment, showing why I fell in love with her all that time ago." He punched the pillow next to him, then sighed and looked over at Missy. "I'm sorry you had to listen to all that."

"Not a problem," Missy said, putting her arm around his shoulders. "You're my twin brother's best friend; I'll spare a few minutes to listen to you." She paused. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Well," he said, "since the breakup I've been spending a lot of time at the office. It's time to make that my life again. Maybe I can win a Nobel Prize."

* * *

Missy headed back across the hall, the last thing Leonard said to her ringing in her head.

"_Please don't tell her what I told you. I don't want her to be mad, or upset with me. It'd kill me if what I told you stopped us from being friends. And don't tell her that Stacy and I broke up. Especially not that."_

The words that she'd said back, as she'd squeezed his shoulders and gotten up to leave, ran even louder.

"_I promise."_

How could she promise that? Especially when she'd gone over there, initiated conversation, and pressed him for details, so she could go back and report it to Penny?

When Missy opened the door to 4B, she found Penny sitting on the couch, exactly where she had been when Missy had left. She looked up at her expectantly.

Missy bit her lip. "Well," she began, fidgeting. "I couldn't get much out of him, but…I'd say that you have a chance."

"Really?" Penny exclaimed, jumping up. "How?"

"Just keep being you, Penny," Missy said. "He fell in love with you once. And … if the opportunity presents itself … I think he could love you again."

**So, you probably all guessed it long ago, like when I started this fic, but yes, Penny has a chance, and now Stacy's not a threat anymore. She was right, though, Stacy isn't the only barrier. She still has to prove to Leonard that she really wants to be with him…and the way of doing it is simpler than you may think.**

**And I know some of you may not like how I've made Leonard still care that much for Penny…but they can't get back together if the feelings aren't mutual, so…really had no other choice!**

**Raj and Howard will be back, if not the next chapter, then the one after!**


	15. Grocery Shopping

**Only one chapter today; I have a bunch of chores to do…and the homework that I put off yesterday. I still own only Stacy. :D And I have a little aspect of the LPS family in this one, because I love it!**

"Can I push the cart?"

"Sure you can, sweetie," Penny said, letting go of the handles and stepping to the side. Sheldon took control and moved the cart forward, walking just behind her. "So we need fruit, eggs, and bread."

"You need fruit, eggs, and bread. I need spaghetti."

"We have spaghetti at home," Penny said, stopping by the cantaloupe. "Gosh, prices are shooting up."

"Do you have hot dogs at home?" Sheldon asked.

"No," Penny said, sniffing the cantaloupe and making a face. "You can go get some, if you want."

"Should I take the cart, or leave it with you?"

"Leave it here; it's crowded today," Penny said, watching him dart off toward the aisle with hot dogs. She smiled to herself. With something still clearly bothering Leonard and whatever it was appearing to affect Sheldon, too, Penny figured it would be good for him – who she was beginning to feel a somewhat motherly protection toward – to go with her to run errands. They'd already been to the bank – and she'd never, ever take him there again – and the veterinarian's, to give Schrödinger a vaccine. Now the cat was safely back in Penny's apartment and they were out again, this time to get groceries. Sheldon had been behaving more today than usual, despite the issue at the bank. Clearly their outing was doing both of them good; as they both were able to focus on something other than Leonard, where their focus and worry and curiosity had been centered on for the past week.

She picked up another cantaloupe and sniffed it. Much better. Penny rested it in the front of the shopping cart, and then darted over to grab her vitamins before Sheldon could get back. As she snatched up what she needed and turned to return to her cart, she bumped into two people. "Sorry!" She briefly hoped Sheldon wouldn't run into anyone – she didn't want him to argue to the point of getting kicked out: again.

"You're fine," said a blonde woman, moving farther down the aisle.

"Penny?" said the other one.

Penny looked up from the vitamin jar in her hands, feeling a bit of dread and awkwardness seep into her body. "Stacy."

"How are you?" Stacy asked cheerfully, giving the waitress an impulsive hug. "I haven't seen you since…"

"It's been a week, hasn't it?" Penny said, trying to look like that was a shame. "Wow, that's a long time."

"Yeah, it is," Stacy said. "I've missed coming over for video games, but I've had a lot of time to be able to fish these past few days."

"That's what's so great about Leonard," Penny said, only half intending to voice the thought. "He's willing to do stuff for people that he has zero interest in."

Stacy shook her head. "Oh, he'd go with me all right, but I knew he didn't like it. Just like I wasn't into that _Star Wars _stuff."

"But you are now?" Penny asked.

Stacy shook her head. "No, why?"

"You were using past tense," Penny said. "So…"

"Oh," Stacy laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't sleep well last night; I was babysitting my friend's son and he's at that age where they don't sleep more than an hour at a time."

"So you weren't with Leonard last night?" Penny asked, frowning in confusion. He'd said he was going out…was he telling the truth about going to work?

Stacy raised an eyebrow. "Um…no…hey, listen, it was great seeing you again, but I have to get back to the school for a board meeting, so…see you around?"

Penny nodded. "I'm sure I will." She smiled politely as Stacy walked away. Less than ten seconds later, Sheldon walked up with the hotdogs, and they continued shopping.

* * *

Leonard sat at home, in his room, reading a Stephen Hawking report. He'd gone through almost everything the man had written in the past eight days, attempting to fall as passionately in love with his work as Sheldon was with his. While he knew that he was falling far short of that ambition; it was a distraction, and if pain numbed over time, maybe this would help him do it.

In a way, he almost felt bad that he was grieving over a woman after a breakup, but it wasn't the woman he'd just broken up with. Over the past week, he'd wondered if Penny had somehow, in his mind, affected his relationship with Stacy. He had come to the conclusion that it hadn't; he'd been happy enough with her at first, and the only way Penny'd affected it was she had shown him what love was and how it felt. In that way, Leonard supposed she'd helped him; made sure that he wouldn't mistake anything for love in the future. But it also gave him the harsh reality of what he was missing.

He'd pushed all thoughts of Penny out of his head and was focusing on the essay when the phone rang. He jumped, his glasses sliding forward unto the tip of his nose. He pushed them back up before grabbing the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Leonard."

"Stacy," he said, putting the pen down. "How are you?"

"Pretty good, listen, I ran into Penny today at the supermarket."

Leonard frowned, trying to make his voice sound casual. As far as he knew, Stacy didn't know anything about the intensity of his feelings for Penny. "Oh yeah?"

"I suspected that she was there when I saw Sheldon scampering off, and then I spotted her by the vitamins, so I went over to say hi."

Leonard nodded before remembering that she couldn't see him. "Uh-huh."

"You didn't tell her we broke up?"

_Crap._ "No, actually," he said. "I didn't. Did you?"

""Well, I was just talking to her, and she made a few comments that made me realize that she didn't know."

"Are you mad?" Leonard asked. "I wasn't meaning to make you mad; it just … hadn't come up. I actually haven't seen her."

"No," Stacy said. Leonard could hear her smile over the line. "I'm not mad, look, we had a good break up. There was no intense fight, and neither of us are crying over it. We just realized we weren't working, and ended it. There's no anger involved. I just thought I'd call and let you know that I saw her, and that I said nothing to imply that we were still together, but I didn't tell her we're broken up."

"Not that I'm angry that you didn't," Leonard said, "but can I ask why?"

" I figured that if you hadn't told her yet, you had a reason for it. And I don't want to inadvertently start something by her hearing it from me. I figured I'd let you tell her when you're ready; you're the one that sees her so often."

Leonard smiled. "Thanks, Stace," he said warmly. "I appreciate it."

"No problem," she said. "So, I'll see you around?"

"Yep."

"Oh, by the way," Stacy said, "I was at a restaurant and ran into that Gilda woman again. She recognized me and came marching over for an hour discussion. She's chatty!"

Leonard laughed, remembering. "She is."

"Well, I have a board meeting tonight, so I'm going to go."

"Okay. Nice talking to you."

"You, too," Stacy said. "Oh," she continued, without any hint of anger or jealousy, "and I think that Penny's the sweetest girl I've ever met."

Leonard stared at the phone upon hearing the dial tone.

**Review, please! If you have something to say, anyway… :D**


	16. Minor Epiphany

**Okay! Another chapter will shortly follow this one…I'm writing it now, and it's getting way more intense than I expected!**

**Here you go…**

Penny was sitting in the break room when Bernadette slid inside and shut the door. "Aren't you on shift?" Penny asked, confused.

Bernadette nodded, walking excitedly around the table, toward Penny. Upon reaching her, Bernadette put her hand on the table and leaned forward. "So a myopia stricken physicist walks up to a bar, and…"

"What?"

"Never mind." Bernadette shook her head. "Leonard's here."

Penny looked up from her soup, startled. "At the bar?"

"Mmmhmm." Bernadette nodded. "Go."

"I'm on lunch! Besides, he hates me."

Bernadette rolled her eyes. "He does not. Oops!" She slapped Penny's dish of soup, spilling some of it over the side and onto the table top. "I just spilled some soup. I'd better clean it up; can you tend the bar while I do it?"

"Hate you," Penny said under her breath, rising and adjusting her shirt.

Leonard was sitting on the barstool square in the center of the counter, staring at the countertop as if it was a piece worth a lot of studying. Penny paused when she saw him; it wasn't intentional, but for a moment she found that she couldn't walk forward. Recovering the use of her feet, she moved toward him. "Hey, Leonard. Haven't seen you in a while."

He looked up and smiled at her. "Hey."

"What can I get you?" she said, desperate to sound professional. After the events of the past weeks, she was terrified that everything she said and did would be the wrong thing. As awful as she felt about it, Penny had a feeling that she was playing for damage control now.

Leonard looked up at her, an irritated expression on his face. "Alcohol," he muttered.

Penny hesitated. "Can you be more specific?" She asked, finally.

"No." He put a hand up to rub his forehead. "I can't think of any drinks. I can't think anymore; I've been working nonstop for almost a week."

Penny tried to give him a teasing smile. "Oh yeah? How's Stacy?" She grinned as she slid a shot across the counter, growing slightly confused at the uncomfortable expression on his face.

Leonard took the shot and slid the glass back across the counter. "She's doing really well."

"I bet she is," Penny said, realizing how jealous she'd sounded. "How are you two doing?"

Leonard tipped the shot glass back again, handing Penny the glass once the alcohol was completely gone. "We broke up. A week ago."

He wasn't drunk enough to be blabbing. Penny's jaw dropped slowly. "Oh … you … what … oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" Her hand was resting on his before she could stop herself.

Leonard looked down at their hands and shrugged. "Thanks, but … you know? I'm okay. I didn't cry. Neither did she. We're totally good."

_You cried over me. _"Well, I'm glad you're okay." _I cried over you, too._ "If you're okay, then … what happened?"

Leonard shrugged. "She didn't make me feel. So now I read essays!"

Penny wasn't sure what the essays had to do with anything, but she only half heard his second sentence. _I made you feel._ "Essays are good for…that." _You made me feel, too._ "You were so busy with the essays that you couldn't tell me?" _Crap, I sound so insensitive!_

"No," Leonard said, shaking his head. He looked down at the counter top again. "I didn't tell you because … I don't know why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry; I was going to tell you!"

"Oh, hey, no, you don't have to apologize. There's no reason you have to tell me. I was just, you know, surprised." Penny frowned, sure that they'd had this conversation before. She attributed the déjà vu to hunger. "So, you're sure you're okay?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm as good as I can be, right now."

* * *

Leonard went home and headed to his room, opening his binder and pulling out a lecture written by a physicist at CERN. "All we need is a romantic dinner," he muttered sarcastically. He tried to read, but the light was making his headache worse. "Shouldn't have taken those shots," he said to himself, dropping the binder on the floor and turning off the light. "I can't fall in love with science," he said. "Not like Sheldon can. And I'm talking to myself now. Brilliant."

He sighed, putting the pillow over his head. He knew he wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon, but at least with his metronomic head he could keep track of the time.

Less than two minutes later, his phone rang. Leonard answered it, groaning at the glowing light that the device omitted. "Hello?"

"Ah, Leonard."

Leonard frowned, confused. What did this family want with him, recently. "Hi, Mrs. Cooper."

"How are you?"

"Is this a social call?" Leonard asked, even more confused. "It's almost eleven."

"You know my Sheldon has a great set of ears on him. He said you were talking to yourself, and reminded me that when he started doing that, I sent him in for a few tests, you know, just to make sure that no devil creature was running around inside him."

"Mrs. Cooper, with all due respect, I don't have Satan anywhere around me."

"That's debatable, in California: Land of the Heathen," Mary said, "but I figured that a nice boy like you might just need to talk to somebody's momma about their problems, and based on the fondness Shelly has for your ma, I doubt she's the type to listen to a boy's problems. So go ahead, shoot."

"Uh…" Leonard was a bit taken aback. Mary called him from Texas so she could 'listen to a boy's problems'? Or was that what a mother did? _I'm not even her son!_ But at the same time, Mary had been more of a mother to him than Beverly was, and he'd only met her a dozen times or so. "Okay. Long story short…"

"I want the long story, Leonard Hofstadter!"

"Do you care this much, or will Sheldon keep calling you if I don't tell you everything?"

"Shelly!" Mary screeched into the phone. Leonard held it out at arm's length. "Put on your headphones! There," she said in a regular decibel level, "now darlin', tell me what's been troubling you."

Leonard still gave her the short version, but it took about ninety seconds longer than what he'd originally been planning to tell her. "So what should I do?" he asked her when the story was done. "Do I throw myself into work, try dating other people…? I just don't know what I'm doing anymore."

"Leonard, all I can tell you is once you meet the One, you're ruined for anyone else. You may find something that looks good on paper, but just doesn't cut it in practice. And you have two choices-you can settle for less or take the risk. And I can't make that decision for you."

Leonard furrowed his eyebrows. "What? I'm not talking about anybody…" On paper? Was she telling him to read more essays? That had to be it. "Well, I appreciate your advice, Mrs. Cooper. Uh huh. Okay, good night." He cringed at the light when he hung up, snapping the phone shut and tossing it in the direction of his dresser. The clatter told him that he had made the correct contact.

His headache was subsiding slightly, but not enough to get to sleep. Leonard lay with a hand on his forehead, thinking. After a few minutes, parts of his conversation with Mary came floating back to him.

"_Once you meet the One, you're ruined for anyone else._ _You may find something that looks good on paper, but just doesn't cut it in practice…you have two choices-you can settle for less or take the risk."_

Leonard sighed. "Oh, man." He rolled on his side. Then he smiled to himself. _I've been getting so much advice from _women_ recently. Mrs. Cooper, Missy, Bernadette…_he opened his eyes again, remembering the day Bernadette talked about her experiment, the day that Leonard had confided in her about how he wasn't sure why it wasn't clicking with Stacy.

"_No matter how close you are or how good it looks, it's still wrong."_

Leonard sat up shifting his weight and turning the light back on, ignoring the shock it gave his eyes.

"I_ almost want to take the slightly lower grade because it's so frustrating trying to get it right, but I know it'll be worth it in the end."_

"Will it?" he asked himself, hoping that Sheldon was still wearing the headphones.


	17. Robot Person That Nobody Likes

**I'd say two more chapters after this. After the last chapter is published, look on my profile page for a link that will lead to my LJ account-the post the link will take you to is a soundtrack for this fic, songs I have or have heard of that, during my proof-reading, I realized go with this fic, at least somewhat. So if you're interested in seeing that, it'll be up when the fic is finished! :D**

"So Sheldon tells me that you were talking to yourself about Penny last night," Howard said, entering 4A the next afternoon. "Is that how it works for you now?"

"You're disgusting," Leonard said, looking up from his book. "And for the last time, Penny and I are friends now. It doesn't matter that I broke up with Stacy. It changes nothing."

"Oh, getting testy, are we?" Howard asked, easing the door shut.

"No." Leonard looked back down at the book. "I'm just saying, that breaking up with Stacy doesn't mean that I'm going to go running to Penny for rebound."

"It's only rebound if A, you two engaged in physical intimacy," Howard said, "call that one a 'check' and B, if the relationship was meaningful. I'd call that a 'no'."

"What do you know about meaningful relationships?" Leonard asked bitterly.

"We're not. Talking. About. Me." Howard said sternly. "We're talking about you. And Penny."

"There is no Me and Penny," Leonard said. "Like I said, this changes nothing."

"Nope," Howard said agreeably, coming to sit on the arm of the couch closest to the door. "It doesn't change that Penny's chasing you with more determination than the entire Imperial Fleet pursued the _Millennium Falcon_."

"Speaking of Imperial Fleet, did you see those guys at the party that were…wait, what?" Leonard slammed the book shut and looked up at Howard.

"What do you mean, what?" Howard asked. "The thing about Penny? Hasn't it been really obvious?"

Leonard scoffed. "You're saying Penny wants me back. Oh yeah, that's been so obvious, Sheldon would notice it."

"He might even be able to pick up on your sarcasm," Howard said pointedly. "And I'm serious. She's like madly in love with you. And for your information, Sheldon _has_ noticed. You've just put so much effort into distancing yourself from us, and reading your…" he got up and swatted the book out of Leonard's hand, "…_stupid_ books, that you can't see what's right in front of you!"

"There's nothing right in front of me!" Leonard yelled, standing up. Howard stood up too, looking as frustrated as Leonard was. "Penny and I care about each other, but she's never going to feel anything more for me than friendly affection, and I'm beginning to accept that. It's a hell of a lot harder to finish accepting it with you trying to make me believe that she could feel anything more! Where do you get off, anyway? Are you wanting to see me hurt so you can flaunt your girlfriend around?"

Howard was angry, his face was read and his arms were held stiffly at his sides. "Okay," he said to Leonard, "you're going to listen to me talk, and not say a word until I'm done."

Leonard crossed his arms. Fine.

"You, my friend, are becoming a horrible person. You're pushing your friends away, you spend your evenings at work or in your room reading. Even Sheldon doesn't do that, and you know why? Because even he knows that our group needs each other, and he as a human being – or homo novus, whatever – needs to be with his friends. You can't just decide," Howard said, changing to a high, feminine voice for the next sentence, " 'I'm not going to ever love or be loved', and try to become this robot person who nobody likes." He lowered his voice. "You can't let Penny do this to you, especially when, despite this twisted belief you have that she doesn't care about you, she does." Howard's voice softened even more, and his next words sounded nothing like him. "She really does." Leonard sighed, and appeared to be opening his mouth to disagree, but Howard didn't give him the chance. "Leonard, I may be a quarter of an inch shorter than you and only have a master's degree, but you gotta listen to what I'm saying."

Leonard gave a heavy sigh. "Howard, Penny doesn't want to be with me."

"Oh yeah?" Howard challenged. "She's mysteriously getting your mail in her box. She's buying food and making sure you get your favorite, and she offers to pay. She's acted funny whenever you were with Stacy. Sheldon and I were in the restaurant when you talked to her at the bar, and we heard the jealousy in her voice when she asked how Stacy was, you said good, and she said 'I bet she is.' She offered to fix your stereo the other day. Think about it, Leonard – Penny's doing exactly what you were doing the first two years we knew her!"

Leonard set down the television control that he'd picked up at some time during the soliloquy. Howard could see that he'd gotten to him. Howard continued. "She never talks to any of us when you're not around, but she's been coming to us in tears over you."

"And you," Leonard said, sounding extremely skeptical. "You, Howard Wolowitz, actually listened to her?"

"Okay," Howard said, slightly irritated, "I have a girlfriend, and I happen to think that you and Penny together is a better scenario than apart-I have to listen to one or the other of you moping."

That sounded more like Howard, Leonard thought; but no matter who the Howard of a few moments earlier had sounded like, well, that Howard had managed, somehow, to get through the barrier that the experimental physicist had built up around him. He lowered his head. "Have I been that anti social?"

Howard smiled, nodding. "You've been pretty bad," he admitted, starting to laugh.

Leonard gave a little laugh, too. "Where's Penny?" he asked.

Howard shrugged. "Maybe in the laundry room?"

"I've got to talk to her."

"Are you going to tell her you want to get back together?" Howard asked.

Leonard hesitated. "I know for sure that I'm going to tell her that I'm sorry for being a lousy friend…"

When he was gone, Howard sighed. "It's a start."

**Now, when I said it would be "easier than you'd think" for Penny to prove herself to him, I don't mean that now all Leonard does is go down there and tells her he wants to be with her. The "easier" part is not what happened here: "Howard talks to him and makes him realize." She does have to do something…it's just a really simple thing. So, you may see that tomorrow, or Wednesday if the writing tomorrow thing doesn't pan out. :D**


	18. Just That Simple

**This chapter took me about forty five minutes longer to finish than I'd expected, AND I had some of it written already. Whew. This was a lot of work. There'll be one or two more; haven't decided. Hope you like!**

Leonard shut 4A's door and headed downstairs, feeling cautious. He knew why; his realization of how bitter he'd been and how apparently Penny'd been trying to get him to notice her – once again, he was the last one to know about it – had made him realize that he was still the guy who fell for the girl who kept her distance and shrunk back like a baby deer whenever he tried to move forward. Dating someone else, even someone great, didn't change that, nor did pretending to care more about experimental physics than he actually did. He was still that guy, that unlucky guy, and it was up to him to salvage what he could of the relationship and move on in the best way possible.

He passed the second floor and headed toward the first. "_You have to know how much I care about you." _Did she still? He thought she did, at least he hoped that she did. But he'd lost, somewhere down this road they were walking, his unshakable belief that everything would always be okay. He was aware that he'd lost it; he felt as if it was something he needed to let go of – because life just wasn't like that.

He took the last step and turned left, then left again, entering the hallway that housed the payphone, the mechanical room, and the laundry room. The door was open, and Penny was inside.

She was at the table, folding her clothes. In terms of position in relation to the table and him, this sight was very similar to the first time that he laid eyes on her, years ago. But in a way, it was very different.

When Leonard laid eyes on her, he didn't see the tan legs, curved back, fairly muscular arms, or acne free skin. He saw country music and a blanket with sleeves and a belief in the supernatural. And he loved it. He loved almost everything about her.

It was what he didn't love about her that made this situation so damn complicated. He couldn't show it; couldn't express what he felt, because every time he showed it, it made everything worse. He gave an inner sigh. He'd just have to deal with it.

"Hey … Penny," he ventured.

She turned, and smiled. "Oh. Hi!"

Yet another jolt back to their first meeting. "How you doing?" He asked, coming up to the table and reaching for an unfolded shirt.

"Oh, pretty good," she said, watching him.

"Good." Leonard folded the shirt and reached for another. "Good. Listen…" he had her attention immediately. "I need to apologize."

"Leonard," she said, giving a laugh, "you don't need to apologize for anything. It's fine if you didn't tell me about breaking up with Stacy."

"Not about that," he said. "About being such an ass this past week. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff in my mind, and I was taking my frustrations out on you and the guys. And I'm sorry."

Penny noticed the sincerity of Leonard's apology, and detected the regret in his voice. When she looked over at him again, she turned slightly pink – he was looking at her, and while it wasn't like the way he did when they were dating, it was … different than it had been recently. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Sure."

"Do you … really believe that I don't care about you?" she said, feeling her throat constrict as she spoke the words. "I know you've been stressed, but … seriously? I know I was a terrible person last spring but … it's been you, ever since I moved in. And I just wish you could believe me."

Leonard looked surprised at her words, but, as the rebel pilots would say, "the shield is still up." She tipped her head back in frustration, then looked back at him. "Penny, I know. Okay? I know, but … you … you confuse me. So much."

Penny sighed. Niether of them knew how to have this conversation, and he still thought that she would only lead him on again; she wasn't sure if he even should believe her, after everything she did. She decided her best means of persuasion was the truth. "I was ready to go back to you before I knew about Stacy. I've fixed what was wrong with me. I'm the person you thought I was until the night I said 'thank you'."

Leonard sighed. "Penny, I care about you. You know that. And Stacy and I ended it, but it was because we realized that as much as we enjoyed spending time together, it wasn't worth the fights, or the differences. Just like every other relationship has ended. There was always a deal breaker. There always will be."

"But _we didn't have one_," she said, looking in his eyes, begging him to remember, to understand. This conversation had taken a serious turn, and she wasn't sure she was ready for this conversation now, at this moment, but she brushed those feelings aside. She'd been waiting far too long. "Each time we fought, it hurt being angry at each other. And when we made up, we were stronger than before." Her voice was in danger of cracking, and she paused to try and mend it. She knew how Leonard felt, both now and when she'd walked away from him. Her past had hurt her, too. But here they were; two people who cared for each other more than either of them had cared for anyone before. Leonard had taken a chance on Penny's damaged heart; that chance had damaged his own.

But Penny believed deep down in her heart that he didn't say he loved her simply because he felt that that was what people in relationships did. She remembered the look in his eyes, and now that she knew that he was who she was meant for she only needed him to understand. "I knew life before you; and I guess ignorance is bliss. I knew life with you, and I've known life after you. Life after you sucks."

Leonard's face softened. Penny noticed and kept on. Others might have said that she was breaking him down, but she'd already done that; built up the wall that he was still cautiously keeping between them. Now she was healing him; taking it down. Penny stepped closer and put a hand on his chest. "Think of it as a math problem. A complicated one, with lots of steps. You, the beautiful mind, got it right long before I did. I got it wrong a few more times than you, and once I began working it out correctly I went slowly, afraid of messing up and needing to start all over. It just took me a little longer to realize what was right. But that doesn't mean that you were wrong when you figured it out. I just wasn't there yet."

Leonard smiled at her explanation, looking at her in a way that he hadn't in a long time. But it wasn't what Penny wanted. It was still guarded, ever so slightly. Penny put her other hand on his chest, still standing with space between them. She knew his eyes, knew how to read them, and she hoped that he hadn't lost the ability to read hers, too, and know that she meant every word that she said. "I see where you're coming from. I know you're afraid. But I'm telling you right now, from the bottom of my heart, that I want to be with you. When you said Stacy made me want to be with you more, you were right-she made me realize that there was a chance that I would lose you forever. And I can't pretend that I'd be okay with that." She looked into his eyes, hoping her voice was as full of sincerity as the words. "I love you, Leonard."

It seemed to take forever for him to respond, but it wasn't any more than a few seconds. She held his gaze, her heart rate increasing slightly in anticipation. The pause gave her the feeling that she was sure he'd had the night that she'd put the first crack in his heart. Then a corner of his mouth turned up, ever so slightly. "I know."

_I know._ He believed her. Penny was about to grin broadly when she realized what he'd said, and sensing for the first time in months that it was going to be okay, she gave him a tiny smirk. "Did you just quote _Star Wars_?" She asked him playfully.

Leonard cocked his head ever so slightly. Clearly, the quoting hadn't been as intentional as Penny's had been months before. "I believe I quoted _Empire Strikes Back_," he informed her, allowing a small smile to come across his lips.

Now that the memorable part of their mental script had been used, Penny took the opportunity to step just a little bit closer. "You know," she said, "that exact exchange was used again in _Return of the Jedi_, only the parts were reversed. So if we're not going by the genders of the characters, you could be quoting two of the movies."

The look on Leonard's face wasn't anything that Penny had seen before, but it made her feel so, so good. She felt, at the same time, his arms come up from his side to slide around her waist and pull her body up against his. She slid her arms up from his chest to around his neck almost without thinking about it. Then he spoke, his eyes glistening over ever so slightly. "I love you, too."

It was when they kissed that Penny realized what had happened; much like years before, how at the moment their lips had met, she had realized what Sheldon had meant by Schrödinger's Cat.

Ever since the spring of 2010, when Penny'd come back to Leonard for sex and called him a mistake the following day, he'd become convinced, genuinely certain, that anything she said or did had some sort of selfish, hidden motive; that she was a weak personality who could never, ever truly commit to somebody. And she didn't blame him for thinking that; she was starting to think that there was nothing that she could do to prove that she really, truly and without reserve, loved him.

But in fact, that was the answer. He knew, more than anyone else, how secure she kept those three words locked in her heart. He knew how careful she was in sharing them with anyone, and he knew that she wouldn't say them unless she meant it, with no selfish undertones or insecurity. It was as simple as that. Penny thought back over the past month, with the mail, the costumes, the quoting, and the spying. All she had to do to win him back, once it was clear that he and Stacy weren't going to work out, was tell him the truth. It almost seemed too easy.

He pulled back for a moment, and then leaned in again. "You know I'm ready, this time," she whispered, and he smiled at her. Penny felt her eyes well up as his lips touched hers, their bodies coming against each other. After the breakup, the one – night –stand, after overcoming that to starting a friendship over, after weeks and weeks of fearing that she'd lost him forever, after the days they wouldn't speak to each other and the nights that she'd fallen asleep on his side of the bed in a desperate attempt to cling to some part of their relationship, suddenly it was okay.

_I love you, Leonard._

Their relationship wasn't complicated at all.

_I love you, too._

It was just that simple.

**Review, please! I think this fic is about to be my first to get 100 reviews! Woot!**


	19. Love Bug

**Okay, this is the last chapter. I think. If I wake up tomorrow and realize this was a terrible mistake, instead of just forgetting it ever happened, I'm going to do something about it, fix it, maybe add another chapter if this needs to be made so, and make it all better! Yes, future Mrs. Penny Hofstadter, I hope you're reading this!**

**I own nothing. At all.**

"I'm sorry," Sheldon said, "but I will follow through with my promise to leave the room if we watch this version of the movie."

"Quick, put it in," Leonard said.

"That's what she said," Raj quipped.

"Oh my God," Howard began.

"She said that, too," Raj said.

"Shut up!" Howard snapped. "Sheldon, does the song really matter? It's just a little at the end."

"It's the original product," Sheldon said, "and change is never fine. Only fisherman's tales change for the better in the retelling."

"Did Stacy's fishing tales get better each time she told them?" Raj asked Leonard.

"She was brutally honest," Leonard said. "Once I asked her to exaggerate so I could tease her about it, so she said she caught an eight inch fish instead of six."

Howard yawned.

"Are you tired?" Sheldon asked him.

"No, I was simulating Leonard's likely response to that story," he said.

There was a silence, while Leonard rolled his eyes. Then Sheldon spoke. "So we're really watching this?"

"Get over it, dude," Raj said in annoyance. "Just watch the friggin' movie and shut up."

"Hang on," Leonard said. "Sheldon, do you have the VHS version in your room?"

"I do."

Leonard looked at him for a moment, and then motioned impatiently toward the hallway. Taking the hint, Sheldon jumped off and bolted to his room, returning triumphantly, holding up the tape. "I present to you all the real _Return of the Jedi_, complete with the Ewok Song sung by the Ewoks themselves." He started up the tape and returned to his spot.

Leonard looked up at the knock on the door, and smiled as Penny entered the apartment. "Hey guys," she said, smiling.

"Homette," Howard said, nodding.

Penny nodded back, and then she looked at Leonard. "Hey, baby," she said, drawing the first word out and grinning.

"Hey," he said cheerfully, beginning to get up. "I'll get you a chair."

"Eh, don't bother," she said, marching around the table and sitting down in Leonard's lap. She swung her legs over the arm of the chair closest to the kitchen area, leaning her back against the other arm. Leonard smiled and slid his right arm around her back, the left resting on her knees. "How's this?" she asked him, smiling.

He returned the smile. "Perfect," he said, patting her knees.

"Mmmm," she said, leaning down to kiss him.

"So you guys are finally back together," Howard said once they broke apart, smiling like he didn't know. "That's great."

Raj nodded, giving them a thumbs up.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Howard asked with a teasing tone to his voice. "Go on, say it."

Leonard and Penny looked at each other. "I love you," he said, his hand running up and down her side affectionately.

"I love you more," she said, putting her hands on her hips. They grinned at each other, and then looked back at the other three people in the room. "How was that?"

Sheldon threw up his hands in annoyance at the PDA, and Howard held up a hand warningly. Sheldon looked at him, put on his batman smile, and stayed quiet. This was what he wanted anyway, no matter how difficult it was to sound or look sincere.

* * *

"You know how much I've missed this?" Penny asked Leonard later that night. "It's been so long."

"Are you counting the 'Mistake'?" he asked her.

"No," she said, sitting up. "Not the sex. Not _just_ the sex. I mean _this_." She lay back down and cuddled up to him.

"Ah." He tipped his head to see her better. "I missed this, too." He pulled her closer. "When can we tell your dad?"

"Let's wait on that," she said. "He'll want to come out and see us again and I want you to myself right now."

Leonard leaned his head against hers. "Good point. I don't want to have to share you."

A thin meow was heard from the floor next to Penny's side of the bed. "Up, kitty," she said, and a moment later Schrödinger was standing on her side, looking at Leonard.

"Looks like the cat's alive," Leonard said.

She smiled. "I never doubted that."

* * *

"I'll see you guys at home," Penny said the following day, smiling as Leonard, Howard, Raj, Amy, and Sheldon got up from their table.

Leonard leaned over to give her a quick kiss. "Bye, honey," he said.

"Mmmm, bye." She smiled, watching them leave, and headed back into the employee room to get a busboy for the table.

Bernadette entered then, smiling. "Look what Howard just gave me," she said, holding up a long stemmed flower.

"Romantic," Penny said. "What are you going to do with that until your shift is up?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Right," Penny said, smiling. "I'm just in such a good mood today!"

"I bet you are," Bernadette said. "All back together with your nerdy boyfriend…" she grinned. "We're the luckiest girls, aren't we?"

"True dat," Penny said, nodding enthusiastically. Then her face changed to a look of disgust. "Ugh, I hate this song."

"Never was a Rhianna fan," Bernadette said, nodding.

Penny's phone buzzed and she smiled at Bernadette politely before looking at the message. It was from Leonard. _Is it too early to plan Valentine's Day in Switzerland, Love Bug?_ She smiled. _Definitely not! _She sent back, complete with smiley faces.

She put the phone away and attention was immediately drawn back to the song, which appeared to be playing louder than usual. "Damn, I really, really hate this song!"

Bernadette cocked her head. "Leonard doesn't make you feel like you're the only girl in the world?"

Before she could answer, her phone buzzed again. _It's a date, then. Love you._

"You know what?" Penny said, looking up from the text and over at Bernadette, who was still grinning at her teasingly, waiting for an answer. "No. He doesn't. He makes me feel like there are three billion girls in the world, and I'm his."

**Hope you liked it! I had a lot of fun writing it! Check my profile page later tonight or tomorrow for a link to the soundtrack! :D**


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